Clermont showed some form last week at home to Bordeaux, only losing 22-23

Leinster's encounter with ASM Clermont at the Stade Michelin this Saturday promises to be a fascinating clash.

Leinster were URC champions last term but have had a slow start; Clermont finished seventh in the Top 14 and while they are 11th at the moment, they played out a 22-23 with Bordeaux last week.

Playing at home, they put weight into the front-row starting two giant props (Akhaladze, Montagne) while opting for a highly mobile back-row (Tixeront, Hemery, teenager Louis Vermeulen at no8).

What Leo Cullen and Jacques Nienaber will being trying to gauge is whether coach Christophe Urios will stick or twist and bring in his heavy metal Fijian/Argentine imports (Tolofua, Sowakula, Kremer) here.

Urios may like the idea that rolling mauls, following the rules altered to favour the attack, is the way to go - he just didn't want to try it against the Top 14's heaviest pack.

Says Leinster second-row James Ryan: "Yeah, the laws are a bit stricter now around what you can do in defending a maul - they're very finicky around guys coming up and swimming up the side.

"So you have got to be really kind of north-south in terms of defending mauls now, keeping the weight in front of you.

"So just having to be ultra disciplined and ultra clean with it potentially makes it a little bit harder to defend."

Indeed, teams such as Glasgow are now actively throwing backs into the maul once it has been set up and started moving.

"A lot of teams do that now and Glasgow have always had a good maul, I think they scored the most maul tries last season.

"If the maul gets a good 'punch', it's moving forward and square, especially if it's inside the five metres as well.

"Teams can just throw in their centres and their wingers because, like, why wouldn't you, it just adds more weight.

"So there are some teams that have been doing that for a while. They do that in the Top 14 and we've done it a little bit before too."

So what of Leinster? Their maul is exceptional when RG Snyman is in place, very good when James Ryan and Joe McCarthy are there and given added value when Ryan Baird is at no6.

This, of course, doesn't allow for last week when the pack - playing together for the first time this season and comprising Sheehan, Ryan and McCarthy couldn't get the throw/catch/land timing right.

Leinster should also benefit from the new guidelines as they have many different types of leaders in the squad'.

There is Dan Sheehan as captain in the absence of the injured Caelan Doris and the level-headed James Ryan calling lineouts.

The line-out caller's job, it seems, will even more important this season.

"Yeah, I guess you could say that. There are more tries coming off the lineout maul.

"But it makes everyone's job more important, it makes the lifters' jobs more important in terms of getting forward.

"It makes the guys that are coming in behind - 'wedges' as we call them - more important in that they make sure they're punching in square.

"It probably makes the whole cog, you know what I mean, everyone's role even more important because if it's getting a little bit easier now with the maul, then it's the way the game's going."

Moreover, it can pay to set up and start moving a maul anywhere inside the opposition 22, can also work out well if it crabs crossfield, setting up possession infield.

"Yeah, it's true. It works both ways but I think we've done a good job in the past, Joe McCarthy, Ryan Baird, Max Deegan have done a good job there the last couple of years around how best to defend mauls.

"And in attack we've had some very good plans, some kind of creative plans around you know different things that we go after.

"So we like that part of the game, so for us, we don't mind that it's gone that way."

Cohesive defending, doubled down on the need to keep your discipline, keeping in mind that giving away penalties is risking a sin-bin, will be key.

"Yeah, and teams are mauling from further out the field and one thing about Clermont and speaking about their maul is that their lineout maul is very good.

"They have a big pack, obviously, but very strong in set-piece.

"So that that'll be a big one for us this week as a pack in terms of going after that area of the game and trying to negate their strength there.