Donal Lenihan: Leinster's recent Champions Cup final pain will make them even more anxious to get over the line

Despite great success in the competition, the Champions Cup has delivered nothing but pain and suffering for Leinster fans in recent times on the back of some really harrowing last minute defeats.

Leinster players look dejected following loss to La Rochelle in Champions Cup final at the Stade Velodrome

After newbies La Rochelle gate crashed Europe with a brace of magnificent back-to-back Investec Champions Cup wins from leftfield over the last two seasons, normal service has been resumed with the two most decorated teams in European history back to contest yet another final.

Between them Toulouse and Leinster have not only appeared in 14 finals but account for nine outright wins between them. That’s some record. It’s a matter of some pain to Leinster that the French aristocrats were the first to earn the right to place a fifth European star on their jersey given that Leinster were in pole position to get there first when they faced Saracens at St James Park, Newcastle in the 2019 final.