Rúaidhrí O’Connor: If Leinster don’t hold aloft the Champions Cup on May 25, something has gone amiss

Successive final defeats against La Rochelle have dented the Blues, but they still remain strongest contenders ahead of a new European campaign

Leinster head coach Leo Cullen, right, and Garry Ringrose of Leinster after the Heineken Champions Cup final defeat to La Rochelle at Aviva Stadium in Dublin. (Photo: Ramsey Cardy/Sportsfile)

Rúaidhrí O'Connor

If James Ryan and Garry Ringrose are not lifting the Champions Cup aloft at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on May 25 next year, then something’s gone wrong for Leinster.

Beaten finalists in three of the last five seasons, they are in danger of becoming the competition’s nearly men.