Celtic League previews: Tonight will be a proud moment for Reggie Corrigan as he dons the blue jersey for a record 136th time, breaking the mark set by his friend and current Saracens hooker Shane Byrne.
Knowing the player though, he'll subsume whatever satisfaction about reaching such an illustrious landmark, until after the game.
The former Leinster captain, who made his debut for Leinster almost 10 years ago, will be more concerned with ensuring a victory for the Irish province as they attempt to rerail a challenge for the Magners Celtic League that was sidetracked by last weekend's disappointment in Glasgow.
The Irish province and league leaders face what in essence are four cup finals in their remaining fixtures, three of them away in the Principality starting tonight.
The Dragons have an excellent home record and despite missing a couple of players through injury will be a tough prospect for a misfiring Leinster.
The Welsh side will be without skipper Kevin Morgan, who has been ruled out with a knee injury.
Under-20 international Martyn Thomas deputises at fullback, although Morgan should be fit for the club's European Challenge Cup semi-final against Clermont next week.
The visitors wouldn't mind if their hosts were a little distracted by the European match.
The former Wales number eight Michael Owen takes over the captaincy and features in a changed back row from the one that started against Edinburgh. Owen will be flanked by Colin Charvis and Jamie Ringer. Lee Harrison starts at tighthead prop and Ian Gough is back at lock in place of Peter Sidoli in other alterations from last week.
US Eagle Paul Emerick, a real handful physically, has recovered from the knee injury that forced him to withdraw just before the game in Murrayfield. He will be a central figure in a hard-running backline that includes the Brew brothers, Aled and Nathan.
Leinster make a couple of changes in the pack, Corrigan starting at loosehead and Stephen Keogh returning to the back row following injury.
Kieran Lewis is preferred at outside centre to Christian Warner, the Australian failing to make the match squad.
Guy Easterby takes over from Chris Whitaker at scrumhalf, the latter dropping to the bench.
Coach Michael Cheika makes a late decision on the composition of his front-row replacements. The 19-year-old Cian Healy is in the running but it seems more likely Stanley Wright will be included.
Harry Vermaas will cover the hooker's role, although Healy did wear the number-two jersey for a couple of years on the Belvedere College senior cup team before settling at loosehead prop.
He is a player of striking ability (pun intended), manifest in his performances for the Ireland Under-20 team that won the Six Nations Grand Slam this season.
Last time out, Leinster produced the out-of-sorts, disjointed display to which they occasionally succumb, and it's reasonable to expect a positive reaction.
They've simply got to win this match and to do that it's about producing a suitably focused, precise and hard-edged display. These are the matches aspiring champions must win.
They have the ability but it must be harnessed collectively rather than in a cluster of individual cameos. Felipe Contepomi has to take the lead role in more ways than one tonight.
Anticipating that positive reaction, Leinster should just edge home and provide Corrigan with two good reasons to celebrate his milestone.
DRAGONS: M Thomas; G Wyatt, P Emerick, N Brew, A Brew; C Sweeney, G Cooper; A Black, S Jones, L Harrison; I Gough, L Charteris; C Charvis, J Ringer, M Owen (capt). Replacements: B Daly, R Thomas, P Sidoli, J Bearman, R Fussell, A Thomas, A Walker.
LEINSTER: G Dempsey; S Horgan, K Lewis, G D'Arcy, D Hickie; F Contepomi (capt), G Easterby; R Corrigan, B Blaney, W Green; T Hogan, M O'Kelly; S Keogh, K Gleeson, J Heaslip. Replacements(from): S Wright, H Vermaas, C Healy, O Finegan, K McLaughlin, C Whitaker, L Fitzgerald, R Kearney.
Referee: Malcolm Changleng (Scotland).
Last time they met: Leinster 35 Dragons 13.
Leading points scorers: Dragons - Ceri Sweeney 122. Leinster- Felipe Contepomi 147.
Leading try scorers: Dragons- Aled Brew 5. Leinster- Jamie Heaslip, Denis Hickie 6 each.
Verdict: Leinster to win.
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