The Glaswegians arrive as undisputed leaders of the Guinness PRO12, eager to make the most of this Dublin visit by showing they have paid their dues at the RDS in recent seasons. They lost a semi-final there three years ago which could have gone either way and the Final last year which was only ever going one way on Brian O'Driscoll's final farewell.
It was just the Warriors' luck to catch Leinster in irresistible mood, the champions taking everything in their considerable stride including the damaged calf muscle which made their celebrated centre's last match one of his shortest, all of nine minutes.
The Scottish challengers now return to the RDS for the fifth time in two years having lost the last four which at least suggests that the law of averages ought to be on their side. They have not won in Dublin for the best part of four years, since September 2011 when tries from Nick Campbell and Peter Horne, reinforced by five goals from Duncan Weir and Scott Wright, carried them home, 23-19.
Leinster, fifth in the table, are two points behind Ospreys in the last of the play-off positions, four behind second place and eight behind the Warriors. They cannot afford to let that widen to twelve, least of all with matches running out and just four left after this weekend in the Guinness PRO12, only one of those at home.
While their opponents can concentrate on nothing other than going one step further than last year and winning the PRO12, Leinster know they cannot afford to be distracted by next week's European Champions Cup quarter-final, against Bath at the Aviva Stadium.
After the unforgettable climax to Ireland's successful RBS 6 Nations title defence, the province's international contingent switch their attention to retaining the domestic crown and taking decisive steps towards putting a stop to their dethroning in Europe by Toulon.
The Ireland brigade includes Jamie Heaslip, the only man to have started all five Leinster Finals, and Sean Cronin, now a RBS 6 Nations record-breaker in his own right. Second half appearances in all five matches means he has played more matches as a sub in the RBS 6 Nations Championship than anyone else, a total of 23 - taking him beyond Ronan O'Gara (22), Salvatore Perugini of Italy and Scotland scrum-half Mike Blair (20 each).
Nobody has made a bigger contribution to their national cause than the Warriors. Scotland chose no fewer than 18 of their players over the course of the season, among them centre Alex Dunbar whose knee injury has regrettably brought his campaign to an early end.
Should the Warriors leave Ireland empty-handed as they did on their last visit, to Munster over Christmas, Ulster could conceivably dislodge them at the top but only by taking all five points against Cardiff Blues on Friday night.
The Welsh capital region make the trip to Belfast undaunted by the fact that Ulster have swept all before them there in the Guinness PRO12 this season, winning eight out of eight. To have any chance of overhauling the Warriors, Ulster would need a try-bonus win, something they have achieved twice this season, against Benetton Treviso last month and Zebre last September.
The Blues will be going for the rarity of three wins in a row since Mark Hammett's exit as head coach and the reappointment of Dale McIntosh and Paul John in charge of first-team affairs.
Nobody suffered more as a consequence than Connacht, six points clear at the BT Cardiff Arms Park and holding on until the seventh minute of stoppage time in the face of a relentless Blues onslaught before succumbing to Joaquin Tuculet's try and Rhys Patchell's high-pressure conversion.
The Scarlets' home win over Leinster the following day slashed Connacht's lead over the Welsh region to a mere three points in the race for the sixth and final Champions' Cup qualifying place. Had Pat Lam's team held out, they would have been eleven points clear.
In making the short trip to Limerick for Saturday's return, Connacht will be braced for a Munster 23 anxious to get their own back after falling in Galway earlier in the season without as much as a losing bonus point.
Saturday also features another match of crucial influence on the fight to finish sixth - the Scarlets in seventh against Edinburgh, one point adrift in eighth. A net haul of 19 points from their last six matches underlines the Edinburgh improvement under Alan Solomons.
If there are to be two Scottish qualifiers in Europe's premier competition next time round, Edinburgh will have to succeed where every other visitor has failed all season and win at Parc-y-Scarlets.
In the two other matches, also on Saturday, Ospreys will be aiming for a maximum-point return from Zebre's visit to Swansea and Benetton Treviso will have good cause to be wary about the Dragons' presence at the Stadio Monigo where they put 40 points on the Blues last month.
To describe Lyn Jones' team as unpredictable is an understatement. In recent weeks they have beaten Leinster in Dublin and seen Ulster off at Rodney Parade. In between they have lost to Zebre in Parma.
It's a funny old game.
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