Preview: Stars war in store in Leinster's latest shot at regaining Champions Cup

The Holy Grail, Everest, the fifth star, whatever they call it, Leinster have failed to find what was needed to get their hands on the Champions Cup for the last five years.

And boy, have they tried.

A "sick obsession" was what James Lowe called their mission to conquer Europe for the first time since 2018.

Today, the two titans of European rugby, Leinster and Toulouse, meet for the 15th time.

Their duels go back to a first clash in 1997, but incredibly, despite nine tournament wins between them, they have never faced off in a final.

This star war has the star power and it promises to be a battle for the ages.

The linchpins of the France national side, among them Antoine Dupont and Romain Ntamack, take on the cream of the crop of the Ireland team, Jamison Gibson-Park and Caelan Doris to name just two, and if the last three Tests between the nations are any indication of what's to come, a real treat lies in store.

Incidentally, Ireland won two of the last three of those games and they’ve been ferocious, high-quality affairs all.

They stood in contrast to how Leinster won their semi-finals over Toulouse in the last two years.

Despite their European pedigree, the Toulouse teams that turned up for the 40-17 and 41-22 defeats in Dublin did not display the heart for the fight they normally do.

Leinster, meanwhile, were ruthless in both those outings, keeping their foot on the Toulouse throat until ill-discipline and disinterest set in.

Leo Cullen and his side can only take so much from those games and the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, expecting a full house of 62,850 today, won’t be a daunting location for the French visitors.

They have hit a magical run of form, too, leading the Top14 with four wins in their last five, in addition to, at