Garry Ringrose backed to come out on top in Champions Cup’s most fascinating duel

Every Leinster player will be well aware of their roles and responsibilities against Racing 92 but Garry Ringrose just has so, so many to see too.

The Champions Cup final will see individual, set-play, pod, coaching and set-piece battles taking place all across the San Mames stadium. The two form teams in Europe meet for the first time in a European Cup final and there will be a galaxy of stars taking part. On the sidelines, not to mention the array of coaching and analytical talent, you have two head coaches - Leo Cullen and Lauren Labit - vying to become the first man to win a European Cup as a player and as a coach. It should be compelling viewing but one face-off we would love to have separate cameras and coverage for is Garry Ringrose vs. Virimi Vakawata. Not only is Ringrose expected to dove-tail with Robbie Henshaw in defence, he will have to keep an eye out for Jordan Larmour in only his second ever professional start on the right wing. He will also be tasked with pitching in at the breakdown, putting pressure on Pat Lambie and Teddy Iribaren, avoiding turnover merchant Henry Chavancy and providing an attacking spark to the Leinster backline. Oh yes, he will have to shackle Vakawata too. That is no easy task and one only has to look at the damage that the 26-year-old did to Munster in the semi-finals. The task(s) at hand for Ringrose were discussed by Kevin McLaughlin and Mike Prendergast on The Hard Yards [from 19:00 below] and it only serves to whet the appeitite even more. "He can absolutely create something out of nothing," Prendergast began.

"A huge Fijian with great, close in footwork that allows him to get outside players or inside players. But knowing Leinster's defence, anything around the ball they will be wary about, especially as he can step in so well. "But that's going forward. Defensively, there are some threads that can be pulled and I'm sure that's where Leo and Stuart Lancaster, and the coaching staff, will identify from the point of view of - what areas to go after. Defensively, they can be got at."

Trust will be key here and it will be heartening for Leinster fans to see Ringrose line up beside Henshaw, with whom he has developed an excellent partnership with. The likes of Dan Leavy and Jordi Murphy were very effective, against Scarlets, in backing up the backs when an initial line break was made. Vakawata is sure to break a tackle or two but it is all about ensuring his breaks are snuffed out as quickly as possible. "Racing are not traditionally a team that start off the season on a massive high," Prendergast added, "as they often reach finals and when you make finals in France you are often playing quite late. That affects your pre-season... They started off this season not too quick out of the blocks but two players have really steadied them since they came in - Donnacha Ryan and Pat Lambie." Negating the influences of the likes of Ryan and Lambie will fall to the likes of Devin Toner, Scott Fardy and Robbie Henshaw but don't be surprised if Ringrose shows up every now and then to have his say there too.