The heat is on in Marseille ahead of Leinster's big day

There's more than a hint of irony that the first thing the Leinster fans saw as they walked through the doors of Shannon Airport was the sight of three of Munster's finest.

The six-metre tall statue of Paul O'Connell, Donncha O'Callaghan and John Hayes stands proudly just inside the departures lobby in Shannon, and although it depicts the trio in Irish green from the famous Croke Park win against England in 2007, it's a timely reminder of the days this airport would be heaving on a Champions Cup final weekend.

Sixteen years ago, the people were wedged in tighter than a rolling maul to greet the Munster fans home from Cardiff after their maiden win in 2006, and a funny twist of fate saw some Leinster fans re-routed from Dublin to Shannon for their Friday trip to Marseille, after some staffing issues in Dublin Airport.

For the weekend that's in it, O'Connell, O'Callaghan and the Bull are a far sight better than a bronzed Ronan O'Gara.

The inconvenience of a last-minute airport switch was largely appropriate for this Marseille final, which at times seemed cursed in its hosting of the decider.

Originally due to stage the final in 2020, Covid-19 meant that was initiallly postponed for a year, but even by the summer of 2021 the crowd restrictions forced it to be pushed back by a further 12 months. Now, Stade Velodrome finally gets its day in the sun, even allowing for a few final hiccups. The two-minute stroll through a quiet airport security is enough of a silver lining.

The year-on-year postponements do raise questions on the size of crowd we'll see. Tickets bought back in 2019 remain valid today, how many of those who made plans three years ago will see out the journey remains to be seen.

The Leinster fans who bought tickets back