Unless he performs a major U-turn, Johnny Sexton's final season as a player will begin on the bench at Kingspan Park tonight.
If this one goes to form, Leo Cullen will be looking to employ the Leinster talisman in the third quarter to get his side over the line in a tight encounter between the top two in the provincial rankings.
While Leinster won in Belfast two seasons ago, it was Ulster who were the dominant force in the fixture last year, winning both home and away before, like their provincial rivals, falling at the semi-final stage of the URC last May.
READ MORE: Leinster fans react to Ronan O'Gara being linked with coaching role at province
For both sides, the business end of the campaign ended in frustration in the Champions Cup, too, and this fixture represents the opportunity to set down an early marker for the campaign ahead after a pair of opening wins apiece.
“It’s one of the biggest games of the year, especially given that it’s a home game," acknowledged Ulster boss Dan McFarland.
“We are playing, patently, the best team over the last 10 years in our league. A team that play really good rugby.
"They will test us both sides of the ball.
"We have been tested a fair bit in different ways over the last two weeks but I think Leinster bring an all-round game that will test all aspects of our game.
“It’ll be a good barometer. I think it’s just the game itself. I look forward to seeing how it will go.”
Coincidentally, Garry Ringrose sees it pretty much exactly as the same way from the visitors' point of view.
"They've got dominance on us before, in terms of trying to keep speed at the breakdown - they've got huge poach and barge threats," said the centre, who skippers Leinster again as Sexton waits for his chance.
"It's trying to get our set-piece defence and attack right, to cope with what they'll come up with to try and break us down.
"Then you've the kicking game as well, John Cooney and Billy Burns are both really good kickers so it's dealing with what they bring.
"You've got to get it all right really to beat them at home - but in any capacity, so that's the challenge for us."
The Leinster players have also been absorbing the shock news that their senior coach, Stuart Lancaster, will be leaving the club at the end of the season for the bright lights of Paris.
As Robbie Henshaw remarked in midweek, the players are determined to send Lancaster and Sexton off with silverware when the summer comes around, and their ability to do that will be examined by Ulster.
With the November internationals looming large, there will be intriguing battles all around the pitch.
Ulster's midfield pair Stuart McCloskey and Luke Marshall - who makes his 150th appearance after a successful comeback from injury - will look to make it a night to forget for Ireland's first choice centres Ringrose and Henshaw.
Ireland boss Andy Farrell will watch that contest, among others, with keen interest.
Flying Ulster winger Robert Baloucoune will be off his radar tonight, as he is among seven Ulstermen starting for Emerging Ireland in South Africa earlier in the day.
But among those looking to catch Farrell's eye are Leinster no 8 Jack Conan, determined to make up for lost ground after a loss of form in the middle of last season, and Jacob Stockdale - nearing his best again after long-term injury - on Ulster's wing.
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