But even that can’t stop eternal optimist John Mulvihill from believing his Cardiff Blues side – currently second in Conference B – can take something from Leo Cullen’s defending champions.
Mulvihill told The Rugby Paper: “I think most teams are beaten before they get on the plane to Dublin, but that certainly won’t be our mindset this week.
“Leinster are a great team and they’ve won 25 in a row, but that means they might not get to 26. We need to go there looking for a massive result and we know we can stress them in certain areas.
“That’s something we’ll try to do. We’re as fully loaded as we can be at the moment. Our young players have no fear – they’ve never been beaten by Leinster.
“For them it’s another game, a big opportunity, and we’re really excited as a group.”
The Blues are without nine players who are in Wales’ Autumn Nations Cup squad.
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