By contrast 1999 champions Ulster, the first Irish club to win the tournament, have ended a 13-year wait and are through to only their second final appearance.

It is the first all-Irish final in the history of the tournament with both clubs taking major scalps on the road in the knock-out stages to qualify for the prestigious showpiece match.

Ulster beat former double champions Munster Rugby 22-16 at Thomond Park in the quarter-finals and then found that another 22 point haul was good enough to account for Edinburgh Rugby 22-19 in the Dublin semi-final.

Leinster romped to a 34-3 quarter-final win over Cardiff Blues but then had to dig deep to hold out for a 19-15 victory over French giants ASM Clermont Auvergne in the Bordeaux semi-final.

It all adds up to Leinster reaching the final unbeaten with seven wins and a draw and in with the chance of being the first club to go through a Heineken Cup campaign without suffering a loss.

Ulster have arrived in the final after qualifying for the knock-out stages as a Pool runner-up and have All Blacks prop John Afoa available again following his four-week suspension.

But while the critical forward aerial battle will see fellow All Black and 2011 World Cup winner Brad Thorn and Leinster captain Leo Cullen up against former Springbok captain Johann Muller and the promising Dan Tuohy, the goal kicking duel between Jonny Sexton - the 2011 Heineken Cup Final Man of the Match - and Springbok Ruan Pienaar could be the difference.

Heineken Man of the Match Pienaar kicked a perfect six from six against Edinburgh while Sexton has contributed 88 points to Leinster's bid to match Leicester Tigers' 2001 and 2002 feat in successfully defending their title.

Leinster have the target of a European and domestic double in their sights with finals on successive weekends while Ulster go into their one chance for glory having been free to focus exclusively on Saturday's showdown.

Ulster's South African trio is made up of inspirational captain Muller, Pienaar and back row forward Pedrie Wannenburg with the final Wannenburg's last appearance in an Ulster jersey before taking up a new contract in France and the Springbok is determined to try and leave with the trophy safely under lock and key in the Ravenhill cabinet.

For their part, Joe Schmidt's champions have that triple title as their target in front of a watching world audience in over 100 countries.