Are Leicester really that good?

THE day of reckoning has finally arrived. After 14 seasons toiling largely at the business end of European rugby, Leinster have a golden opportunity to become the ninth side to win the Heineken Cup.

Incredibly the tournament had a different winner in its opening six years with Toulouse, Brive, Bath, Ulster, Northampton and Leicester all tasting success. But since that inaugural Tigers win in 2001, the competition has become the preserve of a quartet of European giants in Leicester, Wasps, Toulouse and Munster.

Leinster now have the opportunity of disrupting that monopoly for the first time in nine seasons. Saturday’s final game in Edinburgh is simply the biggest game in the history of the province.