It's safe to say it's been a brilliant few weeks for Leinster rugby fans.
The province not only got over their La Rochelle hoodoo in progressing to the last four of the Champions Cup at the French side's expense, but did so with a crushing 27-point win in front of a packed out home crowd.
They will be able to count on an even bigger home support for their semi-final clash with Northampton. With the Aviva Stadium out of commission due to preparations for the Europa League final, Leinster have been forced to move north of the Liffey to Croke Park - with all 82,300 tickets selling out within hours of general release.
Leinster also remain top of the URC table and look set to enjoy home advantage throughout the playoffs - games which would also be held in GAA HQ.
To add to all of the above, the four-time European champions announced the massive signing of New Zealand hero Jordie Barrett on a short-term deal next season, having already snatched RG Snyman from rivals Munster.
Things are looking rosy for Leinster but there are some who have raised issues with the nature of their success. Ireland legend Ronan O'Gara has now added his voice to the chorus questioning the supposed advantages Leinster enjoy over their provincial rivals.
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ROG pulls no punches in assessing Leinster contract situation
La Rochelle head coach O'Gara finally came out on the losing side of a major knockout game against Leinster earlier this month, having previously led his side to back-to-back final victories over the Irish side in 2022 and 2023.
Leinster are now strong favourites for the Champions Cup, with a squad that includes the vast majority of Andy Farrell's Ireland team. The main area of contention surrounding the team, however, is the amount of players on central contracts with the IRFU.
The contract system in place means select provincial players have their salaries paid in full by the IRFU. All other contracts are handled by the provinces directly. Leinster have ten players on central contracts - the other three provinces have only one each. Reports suggest that the IRFU are conducting a review into the system.
Though almost all of the players on central contracts at Leinster were developed through the province's academy, there is no denying that the contract situation has made it easier for the province to acquire international talent such as Barrett and Snyman.
In this week's edition of Ronan O'Gara's column for the Irish Examiner, the ex-Munster man said that the advantages presented to Leinster by the system were akin to an assault on a particularly delicate area to the other provinces:
The transfer of RG Snyman from Munster to Leinster is only going to feed the sense of injustice down south. That a programme already weighted towards the capital can create, partly through central contracting, a financial situation where Leinster have the wherewithal to nab one of Munster’s biggest assets is - not to put too fine a point on it - the biggest kick in the bollocks I can remember for a province since the game went professional in this country.
The transfer of Snyman from Thomond to Dublin 4 certainly did not go down well with Munster fans at the time, and their grievances with the IRFU's central contract policy are unlikely to change any time soon.
There is no denying Leinster's operational brilliance both on and off the pitch but, in a world where even the Munster and Ireland captain is not on a central contract, this debate is likely to rage on for some time yet.
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