This weekend Leinster Rugby are looking to lift silverware for the first time in four years.

Leo Cullen’s side are preparing to take on Jake White’s Bulls in the United Rugby Championship final at Croke Park this Saturday in what promises to be a mesmeric crescendo to the season.

Just a decade ago four years without a trophy would have seemed improbably for Leinster.

Across the 2010s the province were prolific as they won the Pro12/14 five times, the Champions Cup three times and the Challenge Cup once.

But since their 2020/21 Pro14 win there has been precious little to celebrate.

Four years ago already feels a world away. When Munster came to the RDS Arena there was no there one to cheer Leinster to a 16-6 victory and several weeks later the team exited the Rainbow Cup early after a half-hearted attempt at competing.

Since then the team have competed. They have been the URC Irish Shield winners each year, lost in the Champions Cup final in three consecutive seasons and still boast some of the best rugby talent in the world.

Can Leinster win the URC?

But coming unstuck at the critical stage of the season has dogged the team. Those consecutive Champions Cup losses to La Rochelle, and another to Toulouse, underlined a fundamental lack of cutting edge.

Heading into the final this weekend and Cullen’s side are in dominant form, however one of their two losses in the URC this season has come at the hands of thee Bulls, who found a knack for frustrating the Irish side.

This week Leinster lock forward Joe McCarthy has stoked the fires in the media by telling RTÉ: “we know everyone loves to hate Leinster, so that definitely drives us on.

“It’s a great fanbase and we don’t really care about the outside noise, what you guys say or what the other fans or people say. We’re going to rip into next week, it’s going to be tough, so there’s no shortage of motivation.”

That siege mentality may be Cullen’s key to getting his team back to winning ways.

Coming into the game there could be consequences for the British & Irish Lions. All of Tadhg Furlong, Garry Ringrose, Hugo Keenan (all calf) and Josh van der Flier (hamstring) are nursing injuries heading into the game and may not be passed fit to take part.

Read more: Which Leinster players are in the British & Irish Lions squad?

The consequences for Andy Farrell’s side could be severe.

Zander Fagerson has been ruled out of a trip Down Under, with Connacht’s Finlay Bealham called in as a replacement, the potential loss of three more players could induce further selection headaches even before the the Lions host Argentina in Dublin on Friday 20 June.

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