THE URC table makes for grim reading after a sobering weekend for the Irish provinces. Unless you’re a Leinster supporter that is. Munster, Ulster and Connacht find themselves outside the top eight with just two rounds of the regular season remaining, and there is a very real possibility that Leinster could be the only Irish side in the URC play-offs. And it could be the same story in next season’s Champions Cup. Today's top videos STORY CONTINUES BELOW It would be an unprecedented and alarming development. This should be gravely concerning to IRFU performance director David Humphreys and the rest of the powerbrokers in the Irish professional game. Caelan Doris at Leinster training this week. PIC: INPHO/Tom Maher There is undoubtedly a collective relief within the corridors of IRFU headquarters that the Champions Cup is back on the scene this week. Leinster will host Northampton Saints at a packed-out Aviva Stadium on Saturday. A welcome distraction from the myriad issues unfolding on the domestic front. Right now, Leinster are flying the flag, and it doesn’t look like any of their provincial rivals will be gaining ground any time soon. Leinster senior coach Jacques Nienaber, head coach Leo Cullen and assistant coach Tyler Bleyendaal. PIC: INPHO/Ben Brady For Leo Cullen and the rest of his crew, the next few weeks is about taking care of some unfinished business. Northampton, who aren’t having the best of seasons across the water, are the final hurdle for the Blues to clear before a fourth consecutive Champions Cup final. Leinster are scaling this European summit once more and the entire operation is desperate to finally get over the line. There hasn’t been too much psychological scar tissue from last season’s narrow loss to Toulouse at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. After watching Cullen’s crestfallen squad trudge up to the podium to collect their runners-up medals for the third campaign in a row, you wondered if they would mentally recover from yet another hammer blow. Ryan Baird looks at the trophy after Leinster’s Champions Cup final defeat to Toulouse last year at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. PIC: INPHO/Dan Sheridan After losing the 2022 and 2023 finals to La Rochelle at the death, they could only watch as Ciaran Frawley’s drop-goal attempt drifted wide in the 79th minute. Toulouse, led by an almost unplayable Antoine Dupont, went up a gear in extra time to land a record sixth title, consigning Leinster to four final defeats in six years. How could this playing squad come back from this? In the post-match press conference, James Ryan, flanked by Caelan Doris and Cullen, spoke brilliantly. ‘What we said in the changing room was when you want to achieve great things, you always have the risk of failing greatly as well,’ the Leinster lock said after the 31-22 loss in London last May. James Ryan at the post-final press conference last May. PIC: INPHO/James Crombie ‘Would I rather be in a team that tries to be the best team in Europe every year and risks feeling like this? I still would. That’s part of trying to do special things but, as I said, you run the risk of feeling like this. That’s the way it is.’ Leinster have returned this season a meaner and more ruthless outfit. Jacques Nienaber’s smothering blitz defence has become their trademark. Just when we were beginning to wonder whether Leinster had traded off their attacking DNA in the process, Tyler Bleyendaal’s influence began to take hold. To emphasise that point, Leinster have scored 114 unanswered points in their last two Champions Cup games. They have cruised through the knockout stages thus far, eviscerating Harlequins and Glasgow. Garry Ringrose scores Leinster’s fifth try against Harlequins at Croke Park. PIC: Brendan Moran/Sportsfile The province’s form has been so strong this term that some commentators have openly wondered if they are a better team than Ireland. After all, Leinster are essentially the national team in disguise these days and, with the likes of Rabah Slimani, RG Snyman and Jordie Barrett on board, it’s been a compelling argument. Barrett, in particular, has been sublime and the All Blacks midfielder is destined to be remembered with the same reverence as stellar overseas signings such as Isa Nacewa, Rocky Elsom and Brad Thorn. Leinster have encountered little resistance on either trophy front this season. Jordie Barrett has been sublime for Leinster. PIC: INPHO/James Crombie Save for a few gritty pool wins against Clermont and La Rochelle on either side of Christmas, they have cruised through the Champions Cup. It’s been one-way traffic in the URC, too. They have suffered just two defeats in 16 outings. One was a last-gasp loss in Pretoria and the other occurred away to the Scarlets at the weekend. On both occasions, Leinster were far from fully loaded. All the big guns will be back this week. Doris and Co will be primed to seal their place at the big one in Cardiff next month. Yesterday’s injury bulletin was also encouraging. Having such a deep squad means that Cullen can manage his resources carefully. Ryan is the only front-liner who is a possible injury doubt this week. Otherwise, Cullen has a full deck at his disposal. Leinster lock RG Snyman is fit for selection this weekend. PIC: INPHO/Tom Maher They are overwhelming favourites to make another final this week. Not many people are giving Northampton a chance in Dublin, but Phil Dowson’s side won’t be complaining about the underdog tag. The English team have had a mediocre domestic season. They have finished the regular season seventh in the English Premiership standings after losing eight of their 15 league outings. They have clearly missed the calm authority of Courtney Lawes, who left his boyhood club for Brive last summer. Perhaps they have struggled to live up to expectations after last season’s stunning Premiership triumph? Worryingly for Leinster, the Saints have looked more like their imposing selves of late. Last weekend they demolished Bristol 48-31 at Franklin’s Gardens. Northampton half-backs Fin Smith and Alex Mitchell. PIC: INPHO/Juan Gasparini In livewire scrum-half Alex Mitchell, ice-cool out-half Fin Smith and powerful wing Tommy Freeman, they have a trio of England regulars who will be confident of making the cut when Andy Farrell confirms his British and Irish Lions touring squad on May 8. In pacy hooker Curtis Langdon, tough lock Alex Coles and flanker Henry Pollock, a rising star of the game, they have some tough customers up front as well. This is also something of a free hit for the visitors. They will also be heartened by what unfolded at Croke Park last season, when a much-fancied Leinster survived an almighty second-half scare to secure a hard-fought 20-17 win on Jones Road. Yes, Leinster are tantalisingly close to another European final. But Northampton will be aiming to wreck those plans this week.