Leinster have enough in supply not to bottle it

From a certain angle, it looked like prison grounds. The rain bounced off a high brick wall, which once marked Bayonne's perimeter around the base of a moate, and puddles adorned the makeshift pitch which Leinster had been obliged to use at short notice.

Reggie Corrigan, his mate Victor Costello alongside as usual, strode off the sodden surface and observed: "Just like home." Things haven't exactly gone swimmingly for Leinster in the build-up to their decisive Heineken Cup Pool One clash in nearby Biarritz tonight, although swimming is possibly the one sport which wouldn't present much in the way of obstacles.

Following on from their travelling travail on Thursday, yesterday's quick inspection of tonight's venue - the Parc des Sports Aguilera - for some kicking practice suggested aquaplanning would not be an optional extra.

Unable to train there, despite a planned session, Leinster were then evicted from the council ground in Bayonne and so were obliged to use another pitch a short walk from their less than salubrious hotel here, (Biarritz being overbooked due to a film festival this weekend).

The forecast is for more rain today. What's more, the match venue is palpably shorter and narrower than most according to Leinster coach Matt Williams, confirming an impression made by Jonathan Davies at the Biarritz-Northampton opener last October. So Leinster have a pretty good idea of what to expect.

Attendant scrum-guru Roly Meates warns that this will be the strongest scrum Leinster will face in the pool. Typically French, the pressure will be focussed through the middle and there'll be lots of driving from the Biarritz pack, all the while attempting to manoeuvre the veteran but prolific Frano Botica into three point range.

Biarritz are your typical mercurial French team, highly unpredictable. They will most probably be unrecognisable from the side that lost limply in Donnybrook. Not only are there three changes from last week, but nine from the Donnybrook encounter, though it helps Leinster's cause that injuries have ruled out Glenn Osborne and the Lieverement brothers, though Marc makes the bench.

Most of all though, they are at home. With a Saturday evening kick-off, that'll allow for an extra glass or two of vin rouge and the locals will be expecting some rare Leinster meat to devour with it.

However, though it would be an appropriate metaphor, Williams says that weathering a storm is not part of the plan. "The biggest thing we've got to do is be us, and that's the thing I've really pushed this year, to have our own identity.

"You've got to be yourself. We're going to be wearing our blue jersey, everybody's going to have a golden harp on it, we've got our own supporters there and we're going to be us. People talk about weathering a storm, but weathering a storm is not right, that's not us. We've got to be us, and that's the number one thing. Also, we have a culture of winning big games away from home now."

As Williams is at pains to point out, Leinster have a lot going for them right now. They are unbeaten in six games. They are the third-highest try scorers in the competition, behind only Stade Francais and Swansea, whose totals are inflated by whipping L'Aquila.

On top of Eric Miller, Denis Hickie looks like a huge loss. However, though he'd possibly walk onto any Heineken Cup team, Hickie mightn't have been Leinster's trump card for this one in any case.

Leinster should go a good deal closer than they've ever gone in this competition on French soil. They do have a fair amount of Euro experience under their belt, whereas it's worth noting that Biarritz are cup novices, who looked far from wet weather specialists in Donnybrook.

Leinster have plenty of mental baggage, not least from an average beating of 26 points on four previous trips to France. If they can put that aside, then a big performance would not be a surprise, though that in turn would beg the question: Can they close it out?