URC: Connacht v Leinster, Dexcom Stadium, Galway, KO Saturday, 5.30pm, live on Premier Sports

From this night onwards, Connacht are entitled to feel a sense of pride like never before. The old dog track, with its somewhat basic facilities next to the Atlantic, has had more than its share of derisory jokes over the years. But no more now.

When Connacht host Leinster at its redeveloped Dexcom Stadium, in front of its brand new Clan Stand and a record attendance for a rugby match in Galway of circa 12,500, eclipsing the 9,120 at Connacht’s Heineken Cup debut against Toulouse in November 2011, it will be a true landmark. This will be for anyone who has ever had any association with rugby in the province, be it players or volunteers, from grassroots up.

When future historians reflect upon Connacht’s journey, certainly in the last three decades of professionalism, this has to be considered in celebrated company – alongside those who fronted up and rose up in 2003 to march on Lansdowne Road in successfully protesting at plans to disband Connacht as a professional entity as well as the 2016 Pro12 triumph.

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The stadium and amenities are superb. Hats off to all concerned for delivering on their promises so impressively, whether – depending on your viewpoint – this is the culmination of 140 years work, or a 10-15 year project.

Either way, while there might be bigger attendances and bigger TV audiences this season, given the magnitude of what this stadium will represent henceforth for rugby in Connacht, there will be no greater sense of occasion in the regular season.

Such has been the fixture’s long-awaited appeal in both provinces that tickets have been like gold dust for months. The selections also verify the game’s scale in the eyes of both camps, with Stuart Lancaster and Leo Cullen seemingly picking their strongest sides for this latest renewal of their new rivalry and this old one.

Lancaster makes only three changes which dipped their break when scoring 11 tries last week against Montauban. The fit-again halfbacks Caolin Blade and Josh Ioane are restored, while Dylan Tierney-Martin is promoted due to the absence of Dave Heffernan, who must be sickened to miss out on this game due to the calf strain he suffered last week.

The same would have been true of Bundee Aki, in his 10th season with Connacht, although interestingly he is only restored to the bench, where he is joined by another stalwart, Jack Carty, and hooker Eoin de Buitlear.   

However, if this is a fixture every fit and available Connacht player would desperately have wanted to play in, it would have held plenty of appeal for their Leinster counterparts too.

Accordingly, a dozen days out from Ireland’s opening Six Nations night in Paris the Mayo-born and reared Ireland captain Caelan Doris will lead out Leinster on what will be his 100th cap for the province. That says plenty really.

Only those nursing knocks or who have accumulated more game time among their 19-strong contingent in Ireland’s Six Nations squad are missing here, with Doris one of seven starting. Garry Ringrose, Harry Byrne, Jack Boyle, James Ryan and the captain are retained from last week’s starting XV in Bayonne, with Rónan Kelleher moving to a 6-2 bench, while the fit-again James Lowe and Ciarán Frawley return.

Lowe, who stands just one try shy of equalling Shane Horgan’s all-time record of 69 Leinster tries, returns for his first outing since last month’s win over Munster, with Joshua Kenny shifting to the right.

Charlie Tector and Fintan Gunne come in at centre and scrumhalf, with Gus McCarthy named at hooker and Niall Smyth, the New York-born Blackrock tight-head who mangled the Toulouse espoirs scrum with the Leinster ‘A’ team last week, making his debut.

With RG Snyman also retained, Alex Sorkoa and Will Connors are recalled to the backrow, a selection which adds another twist in that Connors and Frawley are bound for Connacht next season.

Funne, McCarthy and replacement lock Diarmuid Mangan are also in the Ireland XV squad, and although captain Cian Prendergast and Aki are Connacht’s only senior Ireland squad members in the absence of the injured Finaly Bealham, Connacht do have six of that Ireland XV squad in their starting line-up; Cathal Forde, the rapidly rising Billy Bohan, Sam Illo, Darragh Murray and Sean Jansen, as well as replacement scrum-half Ben Murphy. There’s talent aplenty on show for this marquee fixture.

With Heffernan and Bealham ruled out, Aki is Connacht’s only survivor from their greatest day in the 2016 Pro12 final in Murrayfield, while Ringrose and Luke McGrath are the only Leinster players who played that day.

In some ways the magnitude of that achievement is underlined by Connacht only having won two of the 21 fixtures since. Hence, the bookies make Leinster seven-point favourites, which is hardly surprising given that only three weeks ago they inflicted a 12th successive defeat on Connacht in this derby when winning 52-17 at the Aviva with 33 unanswered second half points.

In their determination to atone for a difficult start, Leinster also come into this game on the back of nine successive wins, whereas Connacht have been cruelly afflicted with injuries in playing some good rugby in spells or halves or even for an hour, and results have been disappointing.

But as Lancaster has said, the new Clan Stand, and the backdrop of almost 6,500 additional fans where before a skeletal building was gradually taking shape, is a potential game changer. While the odds are against it, perhaps even starting tonight.

For Connacht that truly would be the cherry on top.

Connacht: Sam Gilbert; Shane Jennings, Harry West, Cathal Forde, Finn Treacy; Josh Ioane, Caolin Blade; Billy Bohan, Dylan Tierney-Martin, Sam Illo; Josh Murphy, Darragh Murray, Cian Prendergast (capt), Paul Boyle, Sean Jansen. Replacements: Eoin De Buitléar, Denis Buckley, Jack Aungier, Joe Joyce, Sean O’Brien, Ben Murphy, Jack Carty, Bundee Aki

Leinster: Ciarán Frawley; Joshua Kenny, Garry Ringrose, Charlie Tector, James Lowe; Harry Byrne, Fintan Gunne; Jack Boyle, Gus McCarthy, Niall Smyth, RG Snyman, James Ryan, Alex Soroka, Will Connors, Caelan Doris (capt). Replacements: Rónan Kelleher, Jerry Cahir, Andrew Sparrow, Brian Deeny, Diarmuid Mangan, Scott Penny, Luke McGrath, Ruben Moloney.

Referee: Eoghan Cross (IRFU).

Forecast: Leinster to win.