Heineken Champions Cup final Saturday, 11 May Leinster v Saracens, St James' Park, Newcastle, 5pm Online Live blog on RTÉ.ie and the RTÉ News Now app from 4.30pm on Sunday. Radio Live commentary on Saturday Sport on RTÉ Radio 1 with Michael Corcoran, Donal Lenihan and Bernard Jackman. TV Live coverage on Virgin Media One and BT Sport 2 from 4pm. Weather Sunny with showers, highs of 12 degrees and light winds from the east. We need your consent to load this SoundCloud contentWe use SoundCloud to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content.Manage Preferences Leinster: Rob Kearney; Jordan Larmour, Garry Ringrose, Robbie Henshaw, James Lowe; Johnny Sexton (capt), Luke McGrath; Cian Healy, Sean Cronin, Tadhg Furlong; Devin Toner, James Ryan; Scott Fardy, Sean O'Brien, Jack Conan. Replacements: James Tracy, Jack McGrath, Michael Bent, Rhys Ruddock, Max Deegan, Hugh O'Sullivan, Ross Byrne, Rory O'Loughlin. Saracens: Alex Goode; Liam Williams, Alex Lozowski, Brad Barritt (capt), Sean Maitland; Owen Farrell, Ben Spencer; Mako Vunipola, Jamie George, Titi Lamositele; Will Skelton, George Kruis; Maro Itoje, Jackson Wray, Billy Vunipola Replacements: Joe Gray, Richard Barrington, Vincent Koch, Nick Isiekwe, Schalk Burger, Richard Wigglesworth, Nick Tompkins, David Strettle. Referee: Romain Poite (France) Stars in their eyes Between them Leinster and Saracens have won the Heineken Champions Cups in each of the last three seasons. Leinster are looking to become the first team to add a fifth star to their jersey, to add to those won last season, 2009, 2011 and 2012. A victory for Mark McCall's men would see them rival recent three-in-a-row champs Toulon for dominance, adding a third title in four seasons after triumphs in 2016 and 2017. The final is being touted as the best-legacy-of-all-time decider and with some justification. Leinster have been the best team of the last decade, while Toulon have been the best team of the last half decade, plus the competition loves dominance. Of the 11 previous winners of this 23-year-old tournament, six came in the first six seasons - of those only two - Toulouse (four) and Leicester (two) have won multiple titles. While Brive, Bath, Ulster and Northampton are stuck on one, subsequent winners have begun to dominate. The last 15 seasons have seen just six different winners, with one of Toulon, Leinster and Saracens winning every season this decade. The one guaranteed winner tomorrow is the old regime. We need your consent to load this YouTube contentWe use YouTube to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content.Manage Preferences Rested but not bested Those looking to last year's quarter-final for a steer may be found wanting. Leinster did a good number on the defending back-to-back champions at the Aviva Stadium, scoring three tries in a 30-19 win, but the timing there was key. Sarries were battered and bruised after England's Six Nations endeavours, plus the need to front up in the Premiership and were out-fought by a Leinster side who had a little more R&R after Ireland's Grand Slam triumph. This year is different, with both sides coming to Newcastle well-rested. Leinster's academy graduates have been doing the heavy lifting in the Pro14 after the province secured a home play-off more than a month ago, while Saracens have similarly been able to rest key players due to their Premiership position. The advances in sports science mean that player are no longer required to 'get a run out' ahead o the biggest games, with both McCall and Leinster head coach Leo Cullen confident their experienced players can get themselves up to the pitch of a continental final through training like Leinster's infamous Tuesday sessions. We need your consent to load this YouTube contentWe use YouTube to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content.Manage Preferences Key battles With a dozen Lions on the pitch the standard of this contest is sure to be at or close to Test level and the margins between victory and defeat could be infinitesimal. An obvious clash to keep an eye on is that between fly-halves Owen Farrell and Johnny Sexton. The current World Player of the Year has had some cracking encounters with his Lions team-mate over the years and whichever one gets the upper hand here could go a long way to deciding this contest. Rob Kearney will earn his corn against the likes of Alex Goode and Liam Williams, with Sarries scrum-half Ben Spencer likely to launch long bomb after long bomb on top of the Ireland and Leinster full-back. Content with breaking the ball backwards, the Saracens backline will look to challenge Kearney at every opportunity. Follow Leinster v Saracens (5pm) with our live blog on RTÉ.ie and the RTÉ News Now App or listen to live coverage on RTÉ Radio 1's Saturday Sport.<doc-sep>This has been a special week for English teams in Europe but Leinster are the only side chasing a five-star outcome this weekend. No club have won rugby’s equivalent of the Champions League five times and Ireland’s defending champions have travelled to Newcastle determined to add to the four gold stars already proudly displayed on their jerseys. Saturday’s occasion will do well to match the recent round-ball drama generated by Liverpool, Tottenham, Arsenal and Chelsea but Leinster will be happy to grind their way to glory if necessary. As their coach, Leo Cullen, has admitted, the possibility of eclipsing Toulouse as the tournament’s most decorated winners is “in the back of everyone’s minds” and the so-called “drive for five” is clearly a significant incentive. So, too, is the desire to give Seán O’Brien a fitting farewell, as the popular Lions flanker, 32, prepares to head off to London Irish this summer. The tricky bit will be channeling all this bubbling emotion in the right way, with Leinster’s captain, Johnny Sexton, warning his players to keep their main priority in view. “I think we’ve learned some lessons in the past where we made it all about players leaving and wanting to send them off. It was highly emotional and that can just bear down on you.” No one is denying O’Brien’s departure will leave a sizeable hole when he does disappear across the Irish Sea. “You want to make the most of it, because he’s one hell of a player, one hell of a character and we want to send him on a high,” Sexton said. “But it’s not going to matter for anything that it’s his last game. Sarries aren’t going to try any less.” Equally certain is that Leinster will have to withstand a heavy-duty examination up front where Saracens, playing in red jerseys but based in the home dressing-room, will deploy a serious arsenal. The massive Will Skelton starts at lock with Maro Itoje switching to the back row in the absence of the injured Michael Rhodes, a selection that further underlines the physical threat last season’s English champions will pose. Leinster and Saracens met in last season’s Champions Cup quarter-final. Photograph: Brendan Moran/Sportsfile via Getty Images With the odd late afternoon shower also forecast, it increases the likelihood of a similar type of contest to last year’s closely contested big bash in Bilbao between Leinster and Racing 92. Both sides have the backline ability to cause potential problems out wide but will be primarily concerned with winning the physical battle up front and at the breakdown. Leinster also know the value of early points. “When Saracens get a good start they’re a very tough team to play against,” Cullen said. “It’s hard chasing the game against them.” The same is true of Leinster, yet to lose a European final, and there is a sense this will not be the last showpiece game to feature these two strong, settled teams in the coming years. While Saracens have not beaten their opponents in three European meetings and lost to them in the quarter-finals last year, the London side are in much better mental and physical nick than 13 months ago. “There’s a good sense within the team,” said hooker Jamie George. “We learned a lot from that Leinster game last year and the team are in great condition. This is a challenge we’re more than ready for.” Securing a third European title in four years would also round off a campaign in which, unlike Leinster, they remain unbeaten. Sexton, though, reckons his side’s slightly rockier path to the final could yet prove beneficial. “We’ll take confidence from coming through a tough pool and from some of the challenges we’ve faced along the way. Ulster really put it up to us and we looked after an in-form Toulouse really well in the semi-final. We’ll also take confidence from winning a trophy last year.” The Breakdown: sign up and get our weekly rugby union email Off the field it promises to be a lively weekend with zip-wire rides available off the Tyne Bridge and the Toon throwing open its saloon doors. A vertical descent awaits one of these well-matched finalists but, not for the first time lately, the momentum is with the killjoy English.<doc-sep>Slowly but surely there has been a changing of the guard at Saracens this season. In the four finals they have won in the past three years Richard Wigglesworth has started all of them at scrum-half, implementing the gameplan to a tee. On Saturday it is Ben Spencer’s turn. This match could be the making of Spencer. He has had a phenomenal season and sometimes you can forget he is already 26 – it would be wrong to call him a youngster. But he has had to remain patient, just as Jamie George did behind Schalk Brits, and that is easier to do when you play for Saracens, when you are involved, if not starting in finals, when you are so well looked after and you are surrounded by players of the highest calibre. Eddie Jones will be in Newcastle and while there are a number of players he will be looking at, he will be keeping more of an eye on Spencer than anyone else. We know Ben Youngs is Eddie’s number one scrum-half but we also know that he does not know who his number two is. Dan Robson was involved during the Six Nations but Eddie didn’t quite seem to trust him and he has since had a dreadful setback after developing deep vein thrombosis. Eddie will know all about Danny Care but Spencer is what I would call a hybrid scrum-half. He has an excellent running game – he is rapid – but his game control has developed superbly over the last few seasons at Saracens. He has honed that skill under the tutelage of Wigglesworth – he has had to because Saracens are so reliant on a scrum-half playing that way – but now he has the full box of tricks. If he can perform to his best on one of the biggest stages against Leinster on Saturday it could ensure he goes to Japan. Spencer’s role is so important because exiting strategies and the aerial battle are two areas that will go a long way to determining who will win. If Saracens are going to beat Leinster they have to exit well. When you have two No 10s on the pitch such as Johnny Sexton and Owen Farrell you know both sides are going to be penned in at some stage and, in matches such as this, the one thing you don’t want to have to do too often is execute high-pressured skills. Exiting is one of them; if you do it poorly you give up easy field position. And whether it be restarts or kicks off No 9 or No 10, the aerial battle will be of huge significance. It’s a big part of how both teams play – Leinster are excellent at it but Saracens do it better than anyone, living off those crumbs from tap backs or winning the ball back. Saracens have scored the most tries from kick returns and in broken play as a whole so if Leinster kick poorly they may find themselves cut open. In saying that, Leinster have conceded only two tries within the first three phases in the competition – if you give Saracens a decent set-piece opportunity then the stats suggest you would back them but the stats would also suggest Leinster are really strong from set-piece play. It’s crazy how well balanced the two sides are and how they nullify one another. Leinster defeated Toulouse in their semi-final last month to secure a place in the St James’ Park final. Photograph: David Rogers/Getty Images I also look at the battle between the 15-metre lines and workrate as two more decisive factors. Rugby is a game about momentum and you look at the ball carriers these two teams have, how they look to get dominance on the gainline, if you can stop that it changes the way you’ve got to play. If Saracens can stop the big runners from Leinster in between those 15m channels then Sexton has to go to a kicking game and the same goes for Leinster. They are two teams with such aggressive linespeed so the moment you can shorten that you can create opportunities out wide. You also have to be ready to work harder than the opposition. Two teams with workrate as part of their DNA. If you get outworked you are going to find yourself in a world of pain. You have a Leinster side who like to dominate possession, their ruck efficiency is 90% plus – it’s incredibly difficult to get the ball off them – against a Saracens side who are probably more comfortable without the ball than with it. It’s like the unstoppable force against the immovable object but something has to give. It could take a moment of magic from one of the back three, a drop-goal from 40 yards, it could be a big hit or it could be a decision from the referee. We are talking about small margins, there is nothing to separate the teams statistically or stylistically but I believe Saracens just have the edge in terms of physicality. I think there is a fair amount of hurt, sometimes it is a bit easier to chase than be chased and I predict Saracens will prevail by five points.<doc-sep>
Leinster beat Saracens 30-19 in the Champions Cup quarter-final last year but Saracens are unbeaten in the tournament this season Heineken Champions Cup final Venue: St James' Park, Newcastle Date: Saturday, 11 May Kick-off: 17:00 BST Coverage: Listen to commentary on BBC Radio 5 Live, the BBC Sport website and app and follow text updates online. Europe's two best sides will face each other this Saturday in a match former England winger Ugo Monye expects to be "a physical game of chess". Defending champions Leinster aim to become the first side in history to win the Champions Cup five times, while Saracens could claim their third title in four years. With more than 20 internationals and 10 British and Irish Lions between the two sides, it will be a closely-fought final in Newcastle. But how can you possibly separate Leinster and Saracens? Monye and BBC rugby union correspondent Chris Jones explain where the game could be won and lost. 'X factor' finishing ability Saracens are unbeaten in the Champions Cup this season and have already secured their place in the Premiership semi-final. Meanwhile Leinster have only lost one European game in the past two seasons and could do the 'double-double' - winning back-to-back Pro14 and Champions Cup titles. Ugo Monye: If Saracens play to the peak of their power and Leinster do, who wins? I've not a clue. If they don't take their opportunities - and they won't get many - they don't have a chance. In a game with two evenly-matched teams, you need to find a spark somewhere. You need someone who can do something out of the ordinary. Stylistically, you have two teams that play in an identical way. You've got to have a better work ethic. These two teams pride themselves on that. Chris Jones: For every Maro Itoje, there's a James Ryan. For every Mako Vunipola, there's a Tadhg Furlong. There's Owen Farrell and Johnny Sexton. In a tight game, that 'X factor' finishing ability is going to be huge. Saracens director of rugby Mark McCall has said this week the game will be decided by "small moments" which, in his words, "might be a magical moment". This is where the back-three players come in, whether it is Jordan Larmour and James Lowe for Leinster, or Liam Williams and Alex Goode for Sarries. Who is the best in Europe? Leinster have three players on the shortlist for the European Player of the Year award, with the winner announced following the final, while Saracens have two. The Irish side have hooker Sean Cronin, prop Tadhg Furlong and centre Garry Ringrose nominated while Sarries have prop Mako Vunipola and versatile back Alex Goode. Johnny Sexton v Owen Farrell England captain Owen Farrell is Saracens' fly-half while World Rugby player of the year Johnny Sexton is Leinster's number 10. England came out on top when the pair went head-to-head in the Six Nations earlier this year and Farrell is the top points scorer in the Champions Cup this season with 79. But Sexton, who already has four Champions Cup titles to his name, is the all-time leading points scorer in finals with 63. Ugo Monye: It could come down to something as simple as Sexton and Farrell's tactical kicking. It's not as obvious as Larmour beating 10 players to score a wonder try. Something like that, territory kicking or kicking for goal could make all the difference because these two teams are so well-matched. The amount of kick pressure and territory pressure both teams put on you, you have to have a good exit strategy. Whether it's kicking to compete or kicking for territory - you have to get that right with the kick-chase. Chris Jones: Both teams have a strong kicking game, which has been instrumental in their success over the past few years. While Leinster's kicking game may be a bit more varied than Saracens', Farrell showed in the semi-final he likes to mix up his kicking in the Sexton mould. Picking the right moments to kick in attack will be crucial. But when it comes to the boot, scrum-half Ben Spencer is the key man for Sarries. A left-footer, he looks a clone of Richard Wigglesworth - who has been the premier box-kicker in Europe over the past few years - and is beginning to play like him as well.