Yet Henderson is still suffering from a medial knee ligament injury sustained in training before last week's semi-final against Ulster from which he had not expected to recover from until the new year.

Henderson, said: "The likelihood of me playing is slim. If I am fit by the weekend it will be a miracle.

"I had the scans looked at again and they revealed the injury was more of a strain than a tear so it's not as bad as we first feared. I had thought I was looking at another six weeks on the sidelines."

The prospect of Henderson going head-to-head with fellow Irish Lion Brian O'Driscoll is just one of the possible match-ups which make the final intriguing.

Munster scrum-half Peter Stringer, provided he recovers from an ankle injury, will come up against Brian O'Meara, his former rival for the red number nine shirt.

Leinster second-row giant Malcolm O'Kelly will jump against his Ireland team-mate Mick Galwey while the fly-half battle pits Australian Nathan Spooner against Ronan O'Gara.