Having tried and failed so many times in Investec Champions Cup semi-finals down the years, when Leinster first reached a decider back in 2009, they took to it like a duck to water.
The old cliche of needing to lose one to win one didn't seem to register with them as they beat the Leicester Tigers in 2009, before doing the same to Northampton Saints, Ulster and Racing 92 across the next decade.
It’s only been six years since they lifted the trophy for a then record-equalling fourth time in Bilbao, but on Saturday they will be hoping to avoid making some unwanted history as the only team to lose four finals.
That’s the stick, while the carrot is adding a fifth star to their jersey, something only this Saturday’s opponents Toulouse can boast.
Here, we look back on how Leinster have had their hearts broken in those recent finals, first in Newcastle, then in Marseille and most recently Dublin.
SARACENS 20-10 LEINSTER, ST JAMES' PARK (11 MAY 2019)
Ten years after becoming European Champions for the first time, Leinster looked to cap off a decade of dominance by winning a record fifth title.
Defending champions at the time, having defeated Racing 92 in a tense final in Bilbao the previous year, Leinster moved with relative ease through the pool stage, the only blemish being a surprise 28-27 defeat to an up-and-coming Toulouse side in France.
Having squeezed past Ulster in a thrilling quarter-final at the Aviva Stadium, the defending champions looked back on track when they blew Toulouse away 30-12 in the semis.
It set up a final with the two-time champions Saracens, who had denied us of an all-Irish final when they outmuscled Munster in the last four in Coventry.
Leinster had comfortably beaten Sarries the previous year in the quarters, but Mark McCall’s side had been without two of their meaty forwards Will Skelton and Billy Vunipola for that game. In 2019, Saracens were marginal favourites, but only just.
The final at St James’ Park in Newcastle was played in front of a crowd of 51,930, and it was Leinster who got into an early lead when Johnny Sexton nudged them 3-0 ahead after just over two minutes, when Sarries were penalised for offside.
Approaching the half-hour mark, Leinster were well on top in general gameplay, and eventually made it count on the scoreboard. In one sequence of play, Saracens conceded three penalty advantages in quick succession in their own 22 before holding up Cian Healy over the line, and after Maro Itoje had been sent to the sin-bin, Leinster finally made them pay as Tadhg Furlong crashed over, and Sexton’s conversion made it 10-0.
The game was arguably won and lost in the period between Furlong’s try and half time. It looked like Leinster were managing their lead well into the half time break, before a ferocious George Kruis tackle was followed up by Vincent Koch, who earned a penalty for Owen Farrell to make it 10-3 on 38 minutes.
There was still time left in the half for Saracens to level the game. Luke McGrath’s decision to box-kick rather than kick for touch with the clock in the red was punished when Rob Kearney gave away a penalty for not rolling, and the Premiership side marched down the pitch to score a try, Sean Maitland going over out wide, as Farrell levelled things up at 10-10.
Leinster did start the second half well, but when their purple patch failed to earn a return on investment, the game started to slip away, and the English side beat them with power.
Scott Fardy was sent to the sin-bin just before the hour mark as Farrell kicked Sarries ahead 13-10, and with just under 15 minutes to play, Billy Vunipola barrelled his way through Sexton, McGrath, Rhys Ruddock and James Lowe to score under the posts.
There was no way back.
LA ROCHELLE 24-21 LEINSTER, STADE VELODROME (28 MAY 2022)
Having been stunned by Saracens in the quarter-final of 2020 and after losing to upstarts La Rochelle in the semis in 2021, Leinster returned to the final in 2022 in Marseille as big favourites to win their fifth star.
Their opponents at the Stade Velodrome – La Rochelle – may well have knocked Leinster out in the semi-finals the previous season, but the pre-game consensus a year later was that Ronan O’Gara’s side had probably caught the province on an off-day.
Leinster’s path to the final that season had been the most dominant we’d ever seen, trouncing Toulouse in the semi-finals and averaging 49 points and just under seven tries per game in their seven games before the final. You would have got long odds on them being held tryless in the decider.
The French side, however, had Leinster kryptonite: Will Skelton.
By now, we were noticing a pattern when the big Australian lock came up against Leinster. He'd been part of the Saracens pack that got the squeeze on Leinster in 2019 and 2020, before doing the same in La Rochelle colours in the 2021 semis, and the 6ft 8in second row (below) continued to troll them in Marseille.
It started out according to script, with two Sexton penalties moving Leinster into a 6-0 lead, but that soon took a sharp turn as Raymond Rhule’s try nudged the French side 7-6 in front.
Leinster were playing very little rugby, in part down to La Rochelle’s indiscipline. The French side seemed happy to give up penalties in kickable positions, and while Leinster were 12-7 in front at half-time, it perhaps suited La Rochelle to tempt them with easy three-pointers rather than inviting pressure on the try-line.
That pattern continued into the second half, and with Leinster leading 18-10 approaching the hour mark, they looked ready to kick on.
On 58 minutes though, they gave away a penalty after trying to run a ball out of their 22, and were instantly punished when Pierre Bourgarit mauled over to score, Ihaia West’s conversion closing La Rochelle to 18-17.
When Thomas Lavault was sin-binned for a mindless trip on Jamison Gibson-Park on 65 minutes, it allowed Ross Byrne to push Leinster's lead back out to four, as he kicked over their seventh penalty of the day to go 21-17 ahead.
Shortly after, with 13 minutes to play, Byrne knocked on in midfield, and little did anybody realise at the time, it would be Leinster’s last possession of the game.
La Rochelle won a penalty shortly after the resulting scrum, and after getting into the Leinster 22, they hammered away at the line for more than 10 minutes, an unrelenting sequence of phases in which Leinster made tackle after tackle, but conceded penalty after penalty. They were swimming against the tide.
Had the Leinster defence not held out for so long, they may well have had enough time to go on and win it, but when Arthur Retiere sniped over to score a try in the 79th minute, West was able to run down the clock and knock over his conversion with the final play of a pulsating final, giving la Rochelle their first major trophy.
It was further disappointment for Leinster, but with the Aviva Stadium set to host the final in 2024, it seemed written in the stars for Leinster to get back to the promised land.
LEINSTER 26-27 LA ROCHELLE, AVIVA STADIUM (20 MAY 2023)
It was meant to be the fairytale ending.
From early in the 2022/23 season, it seemed like Johnny Sexton was destined to lift a record-equalling fifth Champions Cup title aloft at the Aviva Stadium for Leinster, in his final appearance for the province before his retirement after the World Cup.
As they always do, Leinster breezed through the pool stage, with Racing 92 and Gloucester barely able to lay a glove on the province, who reached the Six Nations break as the competition’s top seed.
Not only was there a home final in the offing, but Leinster were able to play out the knock-out campaign without even leaving Dublin 4.
The first speedbump came in the final game of the Six Nations, when Sexton suffered a groin injury that would rule him out of the remainder of the season, and denying him the chance of winning a fifth Champions Cup on the pitch.
They eased past Ulster in the last 16, before once again swatting aside Leicester and Toulouse to book their place in the final. Even without Sexton, Ross Byrne was stepping up.
As luck would have it, La Rochelle, O’Gara and Skelton would once again be standing in their way.
This time it would be different, we thought, and it appeared so when Leinster pulled a trick-lineout move out of their sleeve just 33 seconds into the game, as Dan Sheehan and Jack Conan connected to put the hooker in for an instant try.
After five and a half minutes Leinster had their second try through Jimmy O’Brien, and by the 12th minute, Sheehan scored again. Leinster were blitzing the defending champions and already 17-0 up.
Already on the ropes, La Rochelle landed their first shot on 19 minutes. With Tawera Kerr-Barlow's sin-bin in the final stages, Jonathan Danty powered his way over the line to make it 17-7.
Ross Byrne's two missed conversions were already looking important, but when the out-half extended Leinster’s lead out to 23-7 with a pair of penalties on 23 and 30 minutes, it looked like they were managing their advantage nicely
The turning point came just before the second of those penalties, when James Ryan departed with a head injury. The Leinster captain had been the best player on the pitch for the opening 30 minutes, and his side never looked the same after his departure.
A second La Rochelle try arrived just before half-time when UJ Seuteni was played into space by Antoine Hastoy, before the French out-half converted to make it 23-14 at the break.
Hastoy knocked over two more penalties early in the second half, one either side of a three-pointer for Byrne, and heading into the final quarter we were back in familiar territory; Leinster narrowly ahead, 26-20, and defending for their lives.
They gave up a try, Georges Henri-Colombes the scorer, converted by Hastoy to give La Rochelle their first lead of the game at 27-26.
Crucially, this time Leinster had left themselves time, a full seven and a half minutes to find a winner.
It looked like they were going to when Danty’s high tackle and yellow card gave them entry to the 22, but as they tried to run down the clock before pulling the trigger on a drop-goal attempt, Michael Ala’alatoa’s dangerous hit on Colombe at a ruck was caught by the officials. Red card. Game over. The wait continues.
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