Kieran ​Treadwell faith Ulster can pull off landmark Leinster victory

​The sides met in the 2012 Heineken Cup final at Twickenham with Leinster winning by a record score in a final 42-10 tally.

It was a closer affair when the sides met in the 2019 quarter-final at the Aviva Stadium, with Leinster edging the game by three points after Ulster had blown a number of opportunities.

Leinster won the 2013 Pro12 final at the RDS when Ulster had to gave up home advantage for the final as Ravenhill was under construction.

Ulster fell to their Dublin rivals again at the Aviva Stadium in the 2020 Pro14 final and have also lost three domestic semi-finals to Leinster.

Despite the poor record and only two competitive wins in Dublin in 24 years, lock Kieran Treadwell believes Ulster can leave the Aviva Stadium tonight as the first team to beat Leinster this season as the sides meet in the last 16 of the Heineken Champions Cup.

“We’ve definitely got the team and performance in us to do it,” he said. “I don’t know if it’s an upset, I’m confident going into the weekend.

“You’ve got to focus on yourself; your best is hopefully enough, you’ve got to take yourself to those sort of standards and perform.

“We are all in this to win, that’s why we play the game, winning is everything to me, especially to beat Leinster would be massive and give us momentum into the next game.”

Leinster have the current World Player of the Year in Josh van der Flier and four from their pack named in the Six Nations Team of the Championship.

However, Treadwell is confident Ulster can go toe-to-toe in the forwards.

“They are a strong pack; they have got world-class players the whole way through that team, especially in the pack,” he said. “But we just have to impose our game and focus on ourselves.

"And, hopefully, our collectiveness can beat their individuals.

“There is always an expectation, you know your own ability and you know how well you can play, so there is always going to be that sort of pressure on yourself.

“It is how you grow within that and it is how you approach the occasion.”

Having spent time with many of his opponents in the Ireland camp over the last couple of months, Treadwell is hoping he has picked up a few hints on how to beat Leinster.

“It’s obviously a weird one because you are team-mates when you are down there and you come back up here and you are playing against each other two weeks after lifting a trophy,” he said. “There’s definitely chat there and it’s definitely a challenge.

"You do know sort of how they play and we know how they play.

"It’s going to be a difficult one but an enjoyable one.

“There’s little bits and bobs you can pick up but, again, you’ve got to focus on yourself.

"Your best is hopefully enough, you’ve got to take yourself to those sort of standards and perform.”

ULSTER: (v Leinster; Heineken Champions Cup Round of 16; Saturday, April 1; Aviva Stadium; 5.30pm, live on BT Sport)

(15-9) Michael Lowry, Rob Baloucoune, James Hume, Stuart McCloskey, Jacob Stockdale, Billy Burns, Nathan Doak;

(1-8) Rory Sutherland, Rob Herring, Tom O’Toole, Alan O’Connor (Captain), Kieran Treadwell, Dave McCann, Nick Timoney, Duane Vermeulen.

Replacements: Tom Stewart, Eric O’Sullivan, Jeffery Toomaga-Allen, Harry Sheridan, Marcus Rea, John Cooney, Stewart Moore, Ben Moxham