Leo Cullen: Leinster still only 'scratching the surface' of what they can become

Such is Leinster's dominance of the rugby landscape in Ireland right now, they're probably only a trophy or two away from sparking the 'Split the province in two' hot takes, a la Jim Gavin's Dublin footballers of a few years ago.

For the next two weeks though, that's exactly what Leo Cullen's side will be doing. The Leinster coach will bring a squad of 30 down to South Africa for their games in the Highveld against the Lions and Bulls, while Stuart Lancaster will stay back at base in UCD with the frontline players, and prepare specifically for their Heineken Champions Cup semi-final against Toulouse at the end of the month.

It's a phenomenal luxury for the province to have. With a top-seed already secured in the URC play-offs, their results in Johannesburg and Pretoria will have no material impact on the table. In a best case scenario they win two matches, and in a worst case scenario they provide an invaluable learning experience to younger players.

While it's a luxury, it's a luxury they've afforded themselves for their unbeaten season so far. The games in South Africa will be their final matches away from home, and after that they'll pitch up at the Aviva Stadium for the business end of both the URC and Champions Cup.

They'll have to be right at their best to get the better of Toulouse in that mouthwatering semi-final, but Friday's quarter-final win against the Leicester Tigers was another example of just how big the gap is between the sides at Europe's top table, and those even just one level below.

It's almost laughable to think they could be without the World Player of the Year (Josh van der Flier) and another World Player of the Year nominee (Johnny Sexton), put 55 points and seven tries on the Premiership champions,