"Tie the Record" - Reviewing Leinster's Four Champions Cup Title Wins Ahead of Toulouse Clash this Weekend

However, Leinster are faced with the tall order of overcoming the only side to have won a quintet of titles. The Dubliners are set to face a 'five star' Stade Toulousain side, who want to add an unprecedented sixth Champions Cup title to their eclectic honours list. The Champions Cup has been a harrowing competition in recent years for Leinster, yet the Irish province were finally able to end their La Rochelle hex in this season's quarter-finals.

After losing to Ronan O'Gara's men in the past three iterations of the tournament, including back-to-back defeats in the final, Leinster finally eliminated Stade Rochelais this season. Leo Cullen's men handed La Rochelle a thunderous 40-13 defeat, to send the yellows packing back to France. With all the eyes of Dublin facing firmly towards North London, let's take a look back on Leinster's four previous Champions Cup title wins, ahead of this Saturday's potentially history making match.

1. 2008/09 Heineken Cup: Harlequins 'blood-gate' & Sexton is O'Gara's successor

Leinster's first time reaching the European rugby summit took place in the 2008/09 campaign, after the Dubliners won only their second Celtic League title the previous season. Leinster had a mixed bag of results throughout the pool stages, yet finished at the top of the group despite defeats to Castres and London Wasps.

A first placed finish saw Leinster draw Harlequins in the quarter-finals, in what has been remembered as the match with the infamous 'blood-gate' scandal. A gridlocked encounter saw the sole first half points come from the boot of Felipe Contepomi, as Leinster took a 6-0 lead into the break. A try from a young Mike Brown reduced the deficit to 6-5, before the infamous incident took place.

Harlequins wing Tom Williams was withdrawn from play with a dubious 'blood injury', despite the player not having encountered any clear contact to the head. The fakery was revealed to be a blood capsule, as Harlequins coach Dean Richards wanted to replace Williams whilst not using up a designated substitute. Richards received a three year ban from rugby, and Williams was also axed from participation for four months.

Leinster progressed through to an all-Irish semi-final against fierce rivals Munster, with the Dubliners getting the upper-hand on O'Gara's side this time around. Tries from Gordan D'Arcy, Luke Fitzgerald and Brian O'Driscoll built a heavy tally for the visitors, whilst Jonny Sexton ran out a clinical performance from the tee, as he continued to prize the Irish 10 jersey from O'Gara's grasp.

There were plenty of 'neutral' fans at the final, as Scotland's Murrayfield Stadium hosted an Irish and English side. Leinster were backed by their Celtic cousins as they took on Leicester Tigers, who were enjoying a period of dominance as the reigning Premiership champions. A tightly contested fixture was perfectly poised at one try a-piece, yet the sharpshooting of Sexton once again proved to be the decisive difference, as Leinster won their first European crown.

In a sign of the times before Saracens emerged as major European players, Leinster despatched the North Londoners twice in the 2010/11 pool stages. Sarries would exit the competition after a miserable pool campaign, whilst Leinster topped the pool with wins over Clermont Auvergne and Racing 92. Leinster progressed through to the knock-out stages as the top-ranked side, and took on a Leicester Tigers team in a rematch of the 2008/09 final.

Having steadily established himself as the shore-footed fly half for Ireland and his province, all eyes were now on Sexton to take the lead. Sexton's inch-perfect place kicks kept the Tigers on the back-foot, despite once again coming into the fixture as reigning Premiership title holders. The English powerhouses were back-peddling, before a try from Fijian international Isa Nacewa established some clear daylight on the way to win.

Interestingly, Leinster then went on to claim an important semi-final win over Toulouse, in a match that Cullen and co would have no doubt re-visited this week. An early try from Florian Fritz took Leinster by surprise, yet the Irish province were able to rally back to book themselves a place in the 2010/11 final. This topsy-turvy encounter had countless sways of momentum, as an O'Driscoll try and six Sexton penalties kept the score-board ticking over for a 32-23 win.

The final once again was battled against an English side, yet this time the fixture was held in the Welsh capital city of Cardiff. A sold-out crowd packed themselves into the Principality Stadium, in what was amongst one of Johnny Sexton's finest on-field performances. The former Ireland captain contributed 28 points against a resilient Northampton Saints, by crossing over for two tries, slotting three conversions and an additional four penalties.

Leinster were certainly regarded in illusive company heading into the 2011/12 Heineken Cup, but ended the tournament in a league of their own with a third title to their name. Building on their success from the previous season and their maiden trophy lift in 2009, Leinster achieved their third Heineken Cup win in four seasons, which was a never before seen record of success in European rugby's pinnacle competition.

The trophy cabinet in Dublin had to hurry up upon it's expansion, as Leinster issued a royal-blue wash over the Northern Hemisphere's domestic mountain top. Whilst the illusive league and European double continued to evade the Dubliners, they made good on their continued search for silverware, as the heroes of yester-year once again took centre stage. Leinster cruised to the top of Pool 3, and matched Munster as the only undefeated sides after the group stages.

Leinster dropped just a smattering of pool stage points, as they drew 16-16 to Montpellier on the opening day of the campaign. A win against the Southern France side would soon follow, as would victories against Glasgow Warriors and Bath, to see Leinster through to the top of the tree. Expectations were high on the capital club, to see if back-to-back European titles could in-fact be completed by an Irish side, with Leicester Tigers being the sole two-time consecutive victors so far.

The knock-out stages rolled around and Leinster made short work of Leigh Halfpenny's Cardiff Blues. A resounding 34-3 win was a statement of intent, as the Dubliners marched on to make history for Irish clubs in Europe. A reunion with Clermont followed in the semi-final, after the French club proved to be a tricky opponent to overcome in the pools. However, a try from evergreen Leinsterman Cian Healy helped pave the way to victory, as the hooker crossed over for an all-important semi-final score.

Twickenham stadium was the host for the 2011/12 final, with the famous green seats being an appropriate back-drop for the two finalists from the island of Ireland. Leinster met Ulster in the tournament's final, and the Belfast club barely got out of the gates in a one-way Leinster landslide. Leinster crossed over for five tries compared to Ulster's sole score, as Sean O'Brien, Cian Healy, Heinke van der Merwe and Sean Cronin got on the score-sheet, along with a penalty try to the men in blue.

Leinster's most recent European title triumph took place in the re-branded 'Champions Cup' era of the competition. Leinster would return to the final a further three times following their fourth successful trip, but would only bring back silver medals from the showcase fixture voyages. In a foreshadowing sign of things to come, Leinster beat all comers with a clean sweep of six pool stage wins.

The Irish side recorded back-to-back wins over Exeter Chiefs, Glasgow Warriors and Montpellier, in a decimating display of dominance early on in the competition. The new look Champions Cup format saw the pool stage victors ranked in a league table, and Leinster once again took top spot for a favourable draw in the knock-out stages. Leinster were drawn against Saracens, and the two sides from their respective capital cities clashed in a star-studded fixture.

The Aviva Stadium came unglued at the sight of Leinster's 30-19 victory, as Saracens were despatched in convincing fashion. Sexton went tee-to-tee with Farrell, yet did not have to rely on his place-kicking to be the difference, thanks to his teammates orchestrating a trio of tries. Garry Ringrose, Dan Leavy and James Lowe helped Sexton spearhead a healthy lead, before the Ireland captain sealed the fixture with well struck conversions and penalties.

The Aviva would then host the tournament's semi-final, and a sea of Leinster fans were delighted at their 38-16 win over the Scarlets. In what was an impressive European run for the Llanelli side, Leinster made short work of their Welsh opponents through tries from James Ryan, Cian Healy, Fergus McFadden, Scott Fardy and of course Johnny Sexton to bring the win home. Unstoppable and unavoidable, Leinster were in relentless form in the 2017/18 season, in which they also brought the PRO14 league title home to Dublin.

Leinster fans will long remember where they were in the month of May 2018, as they achieved an unprecedented league and Champions Cup double. The undisputed champions of their realm, Leinster took one step towards immortality in their Champions Cup Final win over Racing 92. This tense affair was decided by the most minute of margins, as Leinster's five penalties out-kicked Racing's four, for an overall 15-12 score. Leinster would follow up upon this success with the league title, in a far more entertaining 40-32 win over the Scarlets.