Saturday nights in one of the most fashionable haunts Paris has to offer is all well and good but Ulster ultimately returned home to Belfast empty-handed having contributed handsomely to a pulsating Pool 4 European encounter.

The one they left after them? Presumably the Racing 92 players and management recognise it was a Champions Cup final they should have won.

Johnny Sexton waited almost a decade to experience the satisfaction of playing a central role in an Ireland Grand Slam success, but he will try not to scratch a similar itch when Leinster contest their first Champions Cup final in six years in Bilbao today.

Donal Lenihan examines the decisive factors today at the San Mamés Stadium

Leinster head coach Leo Cullen took another look around the San Mames Stadium ahead of today’s Champions Cup final showdown with Racing 92 and experienced the uncomfortable feeling of a stadium decked out in red.

Donnacha Ryan has come a long way in a very short time, from Tipperary across the Pyrenees via Paris for a crack at joining one of rugby’s rarest breeds.

Simon Lewis profiles the men chasing glory — and a record-equalling fourth European title - in Spain this evening 

Donnacha Ryan likes to lose himself in Paris when he isn’t doing his day job with Racing 92.

Johnny Sexton waited almost a decade to experience the satisfaction of playing a central role in an Ireland Grand Slam success, but he will try not to scratch a similar itch when Leinster contest their first Champions Cup final in six years in Bilbao today.

Leinster head-coach Leo Cullen has named his team for tomorrow's Champions Cup rugby final against Racing 92.

Jordan Larmour is expected to start on the wing for Leinster in tomorrow's Champions Cup Final against Racing 92.

The hat-trick heroes are dwindling in ever greater numbers.

In the Racing 92 training complex at Plessis-Robinson in Paris, there they were, writes Ronan O’Gara

Donnacha Ryan is a favourite son of Nenagh and he will have significant support in Bilbao this weekend as Racing 92 set out to topple tournament favourites Leinster in the European decider.

Much like the championships and trophies accrued by teams on the field of play, the sustained commercial success of a sporting organisation does not happen by chance.

Dan Leavy insists Stuart Lancaster has overseen a revolution at Leinster to place the Irish province on the brink of a record-equalling fourth European crown.

There’s no doubt the absence of Maxime Machenaud has taken a major weapon out of Racing 92’s armoury ahead of Saturday’s Champions Cup final showdown with Leinster but assuming the Parisians will have no creative fulcrum without the France scrum-half is reckoning without Pat Lambie.

Every sports person has experienced those god-awful days when you wish the ground would swallow you up, when you’d prefer to stick you head in the sand or become invisible to all and sundry.

If Leinster lose the European Champions Cup final in Bilbao on Saturday it could be down to a former Munster player, according to Racing 92’s Dan Carter.

Racing 92 have been dealt a huge blow ahead of next month's Champions Cup Final against Leinster.

In my early weeks in Christchurch I picked up some helpful pointers from the Crusaders’ head coach Scott Robertson, writes Ronan O’Gara.

Jack O’Donoghue’s worst nightmares of last season’s semi-final defeat to Saracens were revisited on Sunday in Bordeaux but the Munster back-rower is determined to quickly move on from the latest European setback ahead of the Guinness PRO14 play-offs.

Former All Black Chris Masoe has praised Donnacha Ryan’s contribution to Racing 92’s charge to the Champions Cup final, crediting the Munster man’s positivity with lifting the squad in his debut season.

Johann van Graan defended his decision not to start Simon Zebo in yesterday’s Champions Cup semi-final against Racing 92.

In the raw aftermath of a second successive European semi-final defeat, there was very little a Munster captain could say to put a positive spin on yet another bitterly disappointing visit to the Champions Cup last four.

Anyone questioning Leinster’s credentials as firm favorites for Champions Cup honours this season must have been won over, even before half time on Saturday such was their complete dominance in all facets of play over the opening 40 minutes.

The heartache continues. This is six semi-final defeats in European competition since Paul O’Connell lifted the Heineken Cup in Cardiff ten years ago, writes Donal Lenihan.

Of the four provinces, Leinster should be the one least in need of imported talent.

Leinster’s journey back to the summit of European club rugby is not yet complete but it is worth pointing out just how far they have already covered in such a short space of time as they contemplate the final step in Bilbao.

Racing 92 co-head coach Laurent Labit believes his side’s 40-minute powerplay that destroyed Munster’s European dream will not be good enough to defeat Champions Cup final opponents Leinster in Bilbao in three weeks.

Conor Murray’s reputation as the leading scrum-half in the Northern Hemisphere, if not the world, will mean the Munster star can expect a lot of attention from Racing 92’s forwards in Bordeaux tomorrow but Johann van Graan says his number nine will not be fazed.

This may be the biggest game of his fledgling career as a head coach but five months into his tenure as Munster boss, Johann van Graan is finally in familiar territory.

Aer Lingus has announced additional flights to Bilbao for European Champions Cup Final on May 12.

Johann van Graan has backed the strength of his world-class back three options ahead of Sunday’s Champions Cup semi-final against Racing 92 as he explained his decision to drop Simon Zebo to the Munster replacements bench.

There’s a lot left to be decided on the pitch, but it could be advantage Leinster in the stands if there is an All-Ireland Champions Cup final.

No I haven’t walked the 200 feet of tunnel that reputedly leads from renowned London wine merchants Berry Brothers and Rudd to Buckingham Palace, but I am assured such a route exists, writes Ronan O’Gara.

The team news ahead of Sunday’s Champions Cup semi-final.

It was his piece of individual magic that turned the tide against Toulon and delivered Munster a place in the Champions Cup semi-finals but Andrew Conway believes it will count for nothing if his side does not kick on and reach the final.

Simon Zebo is facing a battle to keep his place in Munster’s starting line-up for this Sunday’s Champions Cup semi-final against his future club Racing 92, the Irish Examiner understands.