The mother of all rugby weekends has arrived as Ireland take on Scotland for the Triple Crown tomorrow and, regardless of the result, Dublin will be buzzing as capital braces itself for the biannual influx of the kilted hordes.
Forget the overhyped "le crunch" in Paris the real action will be begin in Landowne Road tomorrow at 4 p.m. and the pubs thereafter as Ireland go in search of a first Triple Crown in 19 years.
There is, of course, still a slender chance that a healthy victory over the whipping boys in this year's championship would secure the Six Nation's championship outright - in which case traffic and general public disruption could far exceed what the rest of this article attempts to predict.
However, with feet firmly on the ground, there is little to suggest that clash of the Celts will offer much more than the usual Dublin 4 congestion that comes with a major international.
Should Ireland win, though, resulting celebrations may be quelled by the realisation that mass comes an hour earlier on Sunday morning, as "Summer Time" commences at 1 a.m. GMT on March 28th.
Continuing with the Irish-Scottish theme, two Celtic League matches are on offer as appetisers for rugby buffs. In Donnybrook, Leinster host Borders, while Ravenhill is the venue for Ulster's match against Edinburgh. Both games kick-off at 7.30 p.m.
Eircom League fixtures on Friday night include Bohemians versus Waterford in Dalymount Park and Shamrock Rovers hosting Cork at Inchicore's Richmond Park, while Drogheda take on Pat's in O 2Park.
A full GAA fixture list completes a busy weekend of sports, with all games, bar four, taking place on Sunday. Dublin's visit to Kilkenny and Waterford's trip to Clare's Cusack Park in the NHL Division 1A look to be the pick of Sunday's games.
Full fixture lists can be found in ireland.com's Sports Extra section.
AA roadwatch is warning of traffic disruptions at the junction of O'Connell Street and Abbey Street between 7 a.m and 11.00 a.m. on Sunday due to the erection of overhead Luas wires. North and southbound Dublin Bus services will be diverted.
Patchy drizzle can be expected in north-west regions of the country, in an otherwise dry, and occasionally sunny weekend. Temperatures are expected to reach up to 12 degrees in some areas.
