Leinster Rugby Johnny Wattersonlooks into Leinster's lack of ultimate success in the European Cup

Year twelve. Coach six. Trophy zero. There has been a frustrating symmetry to Leinster's involvement in the Heineken European Cup. Way back when sides were feeling their way in the advent of professionalism, not much was asked of the Irish provinces.

Few knew exactly what the standards would be, how the game would evolve, and as England stayed out only to be welcomed in at a later date, the Welsh perished under the glacial slowness of their reforms and the others managed as best they could.

The IRFU, then, were seen as a wily, perspicacious bunch.

Central contracts and full control of their natural resources were the buzz words of choice. But year 12, coach six, trophy zero for Leinster was not the statistic in the forefront of the minds of those administrators pushing the envelope a decade or so ago.

The Dublin-based, and from an outsider's perspective, well-heeled team, will always be measured against the other Irish provinces as well as the best in Europe and if their achievements are looked at coldly, Team Leinster have not measured up to the success of top sides like Leicester or Toulouse and have not come close to achieving what Munster have achieved.

The province with the biggest catchment area for young talent has arguably come in third of the three Irish European Cup teams. Ulster have at least won the trophy, in 1999, beating Colomiers, while Leinster have never been to the final.

For a side that has contained international stars of the calibre of Gordon D'Arcy, Brian O'Driscoll, Shane Horgan, Girvan Dempsey and Denis Hickie for some years as well as a spread of international talent up front in Malcolm O'Kelly, Reggie Corrigan, Eric Miller, Keith Gleeson and Shane Byrne, Leinster's annual carnival of rugby could in some circles be viewed as rarely short on entertainment but edging closer to failure than to general approval.

Leinster can both thrill and hit shrill notes. Llanelli in the Magners Celtic League was the last bum sound three weeks ago. The cumulative effect of such characteristic swings in performance is three semi-finals and three quarter-finals in 12 years. The question is whether that is enough.

In the first year of the brave new European competition, Leinster reached the semi-final but lost to Cardiff. Then for the next five years, under Ciarán Callan and Mike Ruddock, they did not get out of the group stages. From the 1996-97 season until the 2001-02, Leinster were beautifully talented, top-ranked duds.

From then until last year, the side have only once failed to make it into the knockout phase of the competition (2003-04) and have reached two semi-finals and three quarter-finals.

Those six seasons may be seen as a successful run in some eyes, but overall, Leinster's return does not compare favourably with that of two of the other randomly selected big hitters in the tournament, one from Ireland, Munster, and one from France, Toulouse.

Munster have been in three finals and won one of them, in 2006. They have also reached three other semi-finals (2000, 2002, 2003) and three quarter-finals.

Toulouse have performed even better. The French side won the inaugural competition when they beat Cardiff 21-18 in 1996, won again in 2003 when they defeated Perpignan 22-17 in Lansdowne Road, the final everyone expected Leinster to contest, and then beat Stade Français to win outright for the third time in 2005. They were in the 2003 final as well but lost to Wasps as well as going down in three semi-finals and two quarter-finals.

The French side have failed three times to get out of the group phase, in 2000, 2001 and last season.

"Teams like Leicester and Toulouse have been wonderful role models in this competition," says Leinster CEO Mick Dawson. "If we benchmark ourselves against them then we haven't done as well. The statistics will tell you that. It's a fact.

"We would always look to make the quarter-finals. At that stage you have to re-evaluate. You need a bit of luck at that stage. Depending on how you do in the pool, you may get a home game and then in the semi-final it's the toss of a coin. Our visits to the semi-finals have been well documented. People have said we underperformed there. Maybe we weren't good enough.

"But it is a very competitive environment. There are 24 teams in this competition and 50 per cent of those teams believe that they have a chance of winning it."

Dawson is reluctant to make excuses for Leinster or overtly criticise them for not winning the trophy. He looks at it from the perspective of how Leinster fit into a European model. While Ireland's central contracting serves many positive purposes, including the nurturing of young Irish players, and is pursued in favour of stacking up on Southern Hemisphere muscle, the three provinces are always likely to be constrained.

Add a smaller budget than some of the European sides as well as the positive discrimination in favour of Irish players and there's a ready-made excuse.

"We work in a different environment. Sides like Leicester and Toulouse have no restrictions on the number of overseas players they can field. The IRFU don't see any point in having a Leinster teams with 10 South African players or 10 Fijian players," says Dawson. "It is a combination of money and structures. But Munster have won the Heineken Cup within the current structure and Ulster too, so it does show it can be done."

THERE IS A simple way to rate a team's performance in Europe mathematically. If a team are assigned six points for a European Cup win, four for a final, three for a semi-final, two for a quarter-final and one for playing in the group phase, then Leinster's tally over the 12 years of the tournament would equal 21 points.

Munster's runs would give them 32 points, while Toulouse would rack up an impressive 38.

"When Mike Ruddock brought me in to Leinster they (players) were just discovering how good they were. I don't think then they had that ambition to win the Heineken Cup but they do now," says former Leinster and Scotland coach Matt Williams.

"Most of the English and French clubs see Leinster as a major force in Europe. That wasn't the case in 1999. They have put themselves on the European map. Munster set the standard and we (Leinster) wanted a piece of that action. I've always said that Munster set the standard and we aspired to it. Leinster have to keep aspiring. Munster failed and failed and failed and then they did it.

"Certainly in 2003 we should have beaten Perpignan. We have to live with that. We played badly and didn't make the final. But I don't think you can possibly say that Leinster are not successful. Could we have done better? Yes. Do we aspire to more? Yes."

The recent World Cup disappointments might indicate the central contracting experiment may not work in practice as well as the theory suggests. Perhaps playing with top overseas players and competing against them for pitch time is as valid a way to bring young players on as nursing them in the Celtic League. More obviously it would strengthen Leinster's efforts to win the European Cup.

With South African and New Zealand internationals pouring into Europe this season, Irish sides will continue to suffer, and Cheika, who has followed Declan Kidney, who followed Gary Ella, who followed Williams, who followed Ruddock, who followed Callan, will continue to look for a formula.

"We should have made a final for sure," says Williams. "I don't have many regrets in life but maybe that is one."

Six coaches in twice as many years in Dublin seems too hasty a turnover of personnel. Cheika is in year three with a semi-final and quarter-final under his belt and a pool with Toulouse, Leicester and Edinburgh to get past.

Year twelve. Coach six . . .