Let's Hope They Are Sobbing In The Fields Of Athenry Tonight

NOW'S THE DAY and soon it will be the hour, when hopefully, Glasgow Warriors will see off the formidable challenge of Leinster to be installed as 2018-19 Guinness PRO14 Champions.

Let's hope Hoggy departs as a winner

Of course, they can win this thing, after all, they won their conference, then saw off Ulster in the semi-final, they are in good form, can field their optimum team, and, they are playing, if not at home, certainly in their home city – so, why should they not win?

But, their Irish opponents are the defending champions, they have greater big-match experience and, they are, naturally a bloody good side who are extremely difficult to break down. I fancied getting past Ulster would involve Glasgow in an arm wrestle, but, they proved me wrong that day. I do not, in all honesty, see this one being as simple as the last game was.

However, I have no doubts, Glasgow can win this, albeit they will, all 23 of the match day squad, need to be at their very best for this to happen.

Dave Rennie, the Glasgow Coach, has named an unchanged squad from the semi-final, his selection (as-ever in 1-23 order) is:

Jamie Bhatti, Fraser Brown, Zander Fagerson, Scott Cummings, Jonny Gray, Rob Harley, Callum Gibbins (Captain), Matt Fagerson; Ali Price, Adam Hastings, DTH van der Merwe,  Sam Johnson, Kyle Steyn, Tommy Seymour, Stuart Hogg. Replacements: Grant Stewart, Oli Kebble, Siua Halanukonuka, Ryan Wilson, Tom Gordon, George Horne, Pete Horne, Huw Jones.

That squad has between them 1655 Warriors' appearances. The starting XV have played a total of 1195 games for the club, the bench guys a total of 460. That averages out to each player having played 72 games for the club. Only Kyle Steyn (9) and replacement flanker Thomas Gordon (5) have an appearances total in single figures.

Leinster Coach Leo Cullen – and well done to him for apologising for his throwaway line about the Warriors' players all being Rangers supporters – has made some changes to the team which got past Munster in their semi-final, but, as you would expect, he too has named a battle-hardened and experienced squad which (again in 1-23 order) is:

Cian Healy, Seán Cronin, Tadhg Furlong, Scott Fardy, James Ryan, Rhys Ruddock, Josh van der Flier, Jack Conan; Luke McGrath, Johnny Sexton (Captain), James Lowe, Robbie Henshaw, Garry Ringrose, Jordan Larmour, Rob Kearney. Replacements: Bryan Byrne, Ed Byrne, Andrew Porter, Ross Molony, Max Deegan, Nick McCarthy, Ross Byrne, Rory O’Loughlin.

The Leinster squad is even-more experienced than Glasgow's. The starting XV have played a total of 1520 games for the club, the bench guys a total of 429. That averages out to each player having played 85 games for the club.

The third team on duty, the match officials is also an experienced squad. Nigel Owens will have the whistle, there is nobody better. This will be the Welsh Wizard's sixth Celtic League final, and with six European Cup finals, and the 2015 World Cup final behind him, this will be his 13^th major match as a referee.

And it's goodbye from Scotland's favourite referee as well tonight

In a significant move with regard to refereeing, oor ain Mike Adamson is named as Assistant Referee 1, with John Lacey – in his final appearance as a match official – as Assistant Referee 2. The experienced Welsh official Ian Davies, is the Television Match Official.

Celtic Park might not be full tonight, but, there is a chance of a 50,000 crowd, or close to that number. Who could ever have imagined a crowd of that size, for a rugby match, in Glasgow on a May evening?

This just shows how Warriors have been embraced by football's first city. Of course, Leinster will bring a big following, but, the bulk of the crowd will probably be from the Warrior Nation.

Let's just hope Rennie's men can keep their nerves under control, and make this an occasion to remember – particularly for Stuart Hogg, who will surely want his 121^st and for the moment, final Glasgow game, to be a winning one.

I think he will depart for Exeter with that prized medal in his possession.

The match will be live on Premier Sport TV, or, for those who want to enjoy a bigger and better picture, broadcast live on BBC Radio Shortbread.