Jackman: Leinster should be winning two or three Champions Cups every decade 

With their last Champions Cup victory coming in 2018, almost 8 years ago, Leo Cullen's team has the opportunity to reach the finals in Bilbao on May 22, the site of their last victory. Leinster last made the Investec Champions Cup final in 2023, losing to La Rochelle at the Aviva Stadium.

Meanwhile, Toulon will have the opportunity to lift their first Champions Cup trophy since 2013, when they defeated Clermont 15-16 at the Aviva Stadium. Pierre Mignoni's side currently sits 8th in the Top 14, and may miss out on the playoffs altogether with only four games left in the season.

"I think there's a level of expectation that Leinster should be winning two or three Champions Cups every decade, and you know it's obviously not a decade since their last one, but you're getting towards that, so for this group of players, you know, with the age profile, what they've won for Ireland to get to the top seed in the world."

"Toulon can fire shots without any real repercussions. If they go well against Leicester, they'll finish the season, and obviously, they'll win their last top 14 games. They can say that we've made serious progress this year. We went toe-to-toe with one of the best teams in Europe. But there's way more pressure on Leinster."

With their season potentially on the line, Leinster go into tomorrow's game with a number of players missing through injury. While Andrew Porter returned to the lineup, Cullen's side is still missing a number of key players. Including in the second row. With both RG Snyman and Ryan Baird missing through injury, Joe McCarthy and James Ryan started, while Alex Soroka was named in the replacements.

"Soroka is an extra back row who can play second row. He's a very good lineout option. He's a very good player. I think he's someone who, if he got an opportunity for Leinster, which obviously he's getting now, could really jump ahead of a lot of the other guys."

While Leinster were forced into a number of changes through injury, Cullen also made a number of significant decisions with Rieko Ioane starting on the wing, Robbie Henshaw starting over Jamie Osborne at 12, and having Sam Prendergast named among the replacements over Ciaran Frawley.

"Yeah, it's a very big call. I mean, logically, I think Frawley makes more sense. And that's not against Sam. It's a vote of confidence in Sam. Obviously, with Osborne, they've got 5-3, so that makes it a little bit easier. He does cover center wing and full-back, so they obviously see Sam as being a replacement for Harry (Byrne)."

"Robbie (Henshaw) starting over Jamie Osborne is a big call as well because of how Jamie's form has been good, but yeah, they obviously feel that having Jamie on the bench gives them more cover, especially if you want to go with a 9-10 as your other two backs."

With reports during the week that he would return after sustaining an injury in Leinster's Round of 16 tie with Edinburgh, Andrew Porter returns to the lineup, with Rabhi Slimani and Jerry Cahir as replacements. Meanwhile, Toulon's front row and bench have over 143 test caps between them, with Kyle Sinckler and Jean-Baptiste Gros starting.

"So that's absolutely massive, particularly because of how strong Toulon are in the front five. And still a very big concern because he doesn't have a lot of rugby under his belt. And look, he's a very fit guy, and we know he can play 80 minutes if he has to. But realistically Leinster probably need him to be 65/70 don't they? Especially with the likelihood of Toulon rotating."

He hasn't played a lot over the Six Nations, you know what I mean? So he didn't play before that. So he's gone from big break to small break. And yeah, it's definitely something that is a concern."

With Leinster's season potentially on the line, Leo Cullen making this number of significant decisions puts the head coach in a great deal of jeopardy. After falling in the Semi-finals against Northampton Saints last season, the expectations for both Cullen and Leinster's coaching staff to deliver an Investec Champions Cup trophy are larger than ever.

"Yeah, well, I think they had no choice but to win the URC last year, or else probably heads would have rolled. It was too long without a trophy. They will be conscious of the fact that. There is pressure on to convert all that talent into silverware."

"It would be very hard to stomach for a lot of fans if they didn't. I think getting to the final, would almost be the minimum, and it would probably be expected of this group this year."

If Leinster make the Finals weekend in Bilbao, they will face either Bordeaux or Bath on the other side of the draw. Currently, the defending champions have been named as the favorites to retain their crown; however, they still have to get past Bath this weekend.

"Bordeaux have hit top gear during the season, so their muscle memory is recent.` Leinster, I don't think there's been that complete performance yet. Bath probably had it against Munster in the group stages and a couple of times in the Premiership"

"And also, Bath had to get through a very difficult game against Northampton. Bordeaux, they had to get through a very difficult game against Toulouse. But Leinster, they were never really tested."