Leinster have won the competition four times in a row and are looking to make it five with a victorious URC campaign this season.

In that time, they have won the Champions Cup once and also finished runners-up in the European competition.

However, their performance last week against Dragons at Rodney Parade was undeniably poor and it brought question marks over where the province stands in the league, even though they are still top dogs.

The reigning Pro14 champions came away with four points in a 7-6 win but their attack did not click after Max Deegan’s score in the 14th minute.

Cullen believes that the gap between Leinster and the rest of the league is narrowing and puts it down to the structure of the new-look URC.

“I don’t know, but there’s a human nature involved. It’s one of the great unknowns,” Cullen said in Friday’s pre-match press conference.

“A team will always steal a march at various different stages, whether that’s slight tweaks in terms of the laws and how they’re interpreted – certain teams adapt quicker and then others catch up and the gaps close.

“There’s the competition, recruitment, one team falls off and another rises. That’s just sport.

“That’s why it’s so hard to stay at the top for so long because I’m hearing lots of different teams out there saying ‘We want trophies, we want trophies… our plan this year is to win trophies’, there’s 16 teams all trying to do the same thing ultimately. Do all 16 teams all believe they can win a trophy? Plenty of them do.

“So you’ve got to try and stay ahead of the competition at all times and the competition is always trying to challenge.

“I definitely think there’s a narrowing for sure, the way the competition is structured in particular means there’s less moving parts.

“You’d [have played] teams at different stages [in the past] and they might be missing X amount of players, but there’s no clash with the internationals now and that’s the most obvious change, and slightly less games is a change as well.

“Last year there was a certain war of attrition element to the season because there was so many internationals. The four normal Tests plus those Six Nations Tests, six Tests and finishing the previous season.

“Hence why we used a very big number of players last year, so it’s hard to imagine we’ll use that many this season looking at it now.”

However, their depth will still be strong and Cullen shows faith in that with his selection for Leinster’s clash with Zebre.

13 changes have been made to the side that started in Wales last week, including 11 players making their season debuts.

Adam Byrne returns after a long time on the sideline and will get to start in front of the fans at the RDS Arena, while Harry Byrne and Jordan Larmour are also back from injury.

Devin Toner will make his first appearance of the 17th season of his career and Cullen said that he spoke to the squad earlier this week.

“[Devin] has a huge amount of knowledge that he can share. He actually talked this week, which was great. He’s hugely influential.”

The game will kick-off at 1 pm and will be available to watch live on RTÉ 2, Mediaset, Premier Sports, SuperSport and URC TV.

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There are only a few changes to the team that accounted for the Vodacom Bulls in the Round 1 fixture last weekend at Aviva Stadium.

However, there are several milestone moments for players on Sunday with Josh van der Flier winning his 100th cap for the province and lock James Ryan captaining the club for the first time.

Academy back Rob Russell is also set to make his debut for the province after being named on the wing.

Russell was a part of Noel McNamara’s 2019 U-20 Grand Slam-winning side while he’s also been involved in successful Celtic Cup teams with the province.

There is also a welcome competitive return from long-term injury for a number of players involved.

It’s a slightly changed back three for Cullen this week with Hugo Keenan at full-back, Russell on the right and Rory O’Loughlin on the left.

There is a change in the centre with Conor O’Brien back from injury and starting for Leinster for the first time since February 2020.

Outside O’Brien will be Garry Ringrose, who played alongside Ciaran Frawley in midfield against the Vodacom Bulls.

There is a new pair at half-back with Jamison Gibson-Park and Ross Byrne starting their first games of the season.

There is no change to Cullen’s front row with Andrew Porter, Dan Sheehan and Michael Ala’alatoa again selected and behind them it’s also the same lock combination of Ross Molony and first-time captain Ryan.

Ryan made his Leinster debut away to Dragons in September 2017 in the first game of the double-winning season and the 25-year-old will now lead Leinster Rugby for the first time at the same venue.

There is only one change to the back row with Max Deegan coming in at No 8 for the injured Caelan Doris – Deegan will make his first competitive start since August 2020.

Elsewhere, it’s as you were with Rhys Ruddock and Josh van der Flier on the flanks.

Wicklow man van der Flier will make his 100th appearance for Leinster on Sunday. He made his debut in October 2014 against Zebre and has since scored 12 tries in 99 appearances for his province.

He will be the fifth centurion on the field against the Welsh side, after Byrne, Gibson-Park, Molony and Ruddock.

On the bench there is a return to Leinster colours for recent signing Nick McCarthy, while Dan Leavy is another to hopefully make a welcome return from injury should he be introduced.

Cian Healy and James are the two centurions on the bench.

Injury updates for the squad ahead of their clash with Dragons can be seen here.

Leinster Squad v Dragons

15. Hugo Keenan (31)
14. Rob Russell (0)
13. Garry Ringrose (87)
12. Conor O’Brien (23)
11. Rory O’Loughlin (88)
10. Ross Byrne (105)
9. Jamison Gibson-Park (102)

1. Andrew Porter (78)
2. Dan Sheehan (14)
3. Michael Ala’alatoa (1)
4. Ross Molony (117)
5. James Ryan (51) CAPTAIN
6. Rhys Ruddock (189)
7. Josh van der Flier (99)
8. Max Deegan (66)

Replacements:

16. James Tracy (130)
17. Ed Byrne (71)
18. Cian Healy (232)
19. Ryan Baird (28)
20. Dan Leavy (72)
21. Nick McCarthy (36)
22. Ciarán Frawley (36)
23. Scott Penny (29)

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There was good news for Andrew Porter (foot), Garry Ringrose (shoulder) and Ciarán Frawley (shoulder) as they all came through the game against Vodacom Bulls last Saturday with no issues and will train as normal this week.

Fly-half Harry Byrne will also return to team training this week after recovering from a foot injury.

Caelan Doris was withdrawn in the first half of the province’s opening day victory over the Vodacom Bulls with a calf injury and will be further assessed this week ahead of the trip to Dragons.

Jordan Larmour (groin) and Tommy O’Brien (hamstring) will look to increase their workload this week as they return from their respective injuries.

There are no further updates from Leinster on: Josh Murphy (calf), Dave Kearney (ankle), Michael Milne (calf), Will Connors (knee), Thomas Clarkson (hamstring) and Jack Dunne (ankle).

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