THE BULLS ARE utterly determined that there will be no sense of Groundhog Day at Croke Park on Friday night.
A year on from a humbling loss to Leinster in the URC final, the South Africans are back for another crack at Leinster.
It went badly wrong for them in 2025 as Leo Cullen’s side delivered as dominant a performance as you’ll see in a final. They beat the Bulls across the board.
Perhaps most surprising for the South Africans was how they couldn’t make more of an impact at scrum time. This was seen as their most obvious way into the contest, all the more so when Tadhg Furlong was ruled out, and when rain arrived on game day.
But it was Leinster who excelled at the scrum, with Thomas Clarkson making a real statement at tighthead prop for the Irish province.
Losing the scrum battle would have hurt the Bulls as much as anything, so as they look to prove a point in all areas in Friday’s rematch, there will undoubtedly be extreme motivation to get a better footing at the scrum.
This time around, Leinster have lost frontline loosehead prop Andrew Porter, who suffered a calf injury in their semi-final win over the Stormers.
Leinster started that game with a couple of penalty wins at the scrum, but the contest swung strongly in the Stormers’ favour thereafter.
Going up against the Stormers was surely of major benefit to Leinster in preparation for the scrum contest in the final. The Stormers won a URC-leading 77 penalties at the scrum this season, a staggering total.
The Bulls are next best, with 61 scrum penalty wins.
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It is not breaking news that South African packs are good at earning scrum penalties – the Sharks won 56 – but this underlines the challenge ahead of Leinster’s forwards again on Friday.
Leinster’s tally of 47 scrum penalty wins this season leaves them fourth in the table, so they have done plenty of damage themselves.
Thomas Clarkson was excellent in last year's final. James Crombie / INPHO
James Crombie / INPHO / INPHO
They have been a more aggressive scrummaging team under forwards coach Robin McBryde’s guidance in the last couple of seasons, with the veteran French tighthead Rabah Slimani seemingly having a big influence too.
The referee always has a big say on a scrum battle, of course, and it is interesting that Italy’s Andrea Piardi is in charge of the URC final again, having done the job at Croke Park last year.
Leinster did a fantastic job on the Bulls’ scrum last season, but as McBryde said this week, they have to do it all over again on Friday night.
It will be intriguing to see which two looseheads they select in the absence of Porter, Paddy McCarthy, and Jack Boyle.
20-year-old Alex Usanov came off the bench against the Stormers, while Connacht-bound Jerry Cahir and the experienced Ed Byrne are also in the mix.
Tighthead prop Furlong is back in the frame this week after injury that kept him out of the Stormers game, with Clarkson having been the main man at tighthead in recent times, and Slimani offering his nous.
Hooker Dan Sheehan is back in training having also missed the Stormers match, in which Rónan Kelleher had a superb game.
The Bulls front row will have a familiar look, with Springboks tighthead Wilco Louw potentially returning to the number three shirt after he was used off the bench in their semi-final win over Glasgow.
That said, 26-year-old François Klopper has put together an impressive season, keeping Mornay Smith – who came off the bench in last season’s final – out of the matchday squad at times.
Loosehead prop Gerhard Steenekamp missed last year’s final but is available this time, meaning he should team up with Jan-Hendrik Wessels in a dangerous pairing in the number one and number 17 shirts.
Johan Grobbelaar remains the frontliner at hooker, where he has put in impressive 80-minute shifts in the quarter-finals and semi-finals. That’s partly because Marco van Staden – best known as a back row – has also been covering hooker from the bench.
The Bulls included the fit-again Akker van der Merwe in their travelling squad for this URC final, so they have options.
The Bulls’ front row has lots of Springbok quality and, with plenty of beef behind them too, they will be out to put things right after last year’s disappointment at the scrum and across the rest of the final.
Gerhard Steenekamp missed last year's final. Steve Haag Sports / Deon van der Merwe/INPHO
Steve Haag Sports / Deon van der Merwe/INPHO / Deon van der Merwe/INPHO
Steenekamp isn’t the only Bull who missed out on last year’s decider, with back rows Elrigh Louw and Cameron Hanekom also sidelined. As they showed once again in the recent semi-final win against Glasgow, they are very impactful players.
Springboks wing Kurt-Lee Arendse, who had a spell in Japanese club rugby last season, wasn’t part of the Bulls team at Croker in 2025 either, so he will look to add a different energy this time around.
Out-half Handré Pollard hadn’t yet re-joined the Bulls at that stage, of course, and he is undoubtedly the kind of player who could change their fortunes on Friday. He was wayward off the tee in the semi-final, a rare sight, but he usually oozes big-game quality.
Pollard will have assured the Bulls’ pack that if they can win him penalties within sight of the posts, his aim will be far more accurate on Friday.
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Bulls out to settle scrum score with Leinster in Croker repeat
THE BULLS ARE utterly determined that there will be no sense of Groundhog Day at Croke Park on Friday night.
A year on from a humbling loss to Leinster in the URC final, the South Africans are back for another crack at Leinster.
It went badly wrong for them in 2025 as Leo Cullen’s side delivered as dominant a performance as you’ll see in a final. They beat the Bulls across the board.
Perhaps most surprising for the South Africans was how they couldn’t make more of an impact at scrum time. This was seen as their most obvious way into the contest, all the more so when Tadhg Furlong was ruled out, and when rain arrived on game day.
But it was Leinster who excelled at the scrum, with Thomas Clarkson making a real statement at tighthead prop for the Irish province.
Losing the scrum battle would have hurt the Bulls as much as anything, so as they look to prove a point in all areas in Friday’s rematch, there will undoubtedly be extreme motivation to get a better footing at the scrum.
This time around, Leinster have lost frontline loosehead prop Andrew Porter, who suffered a calf injury in their semi-final win over the Stormers.
Leinster started that game with a couple of penalty wins at the scrum, but the contest swung strongly in the Stormers’ favour thereafter.
Going up against the Stormers was surely of major benefit to Leinster in preparation for the scrum contest in the final. The Stormers won a URC-leading 77 penalties at the scrum this season, a staggering total.
The Bulls are next best, with 61 scrum penalty wins.
It is not breaking news that South African packs are good at earning scrum penalties – the Sharks won 56 – but this underlines the challenge ahead of Leinster’s forwards again on Friday.
Leinster’s tally of 47 scrum penalty wins this season leaves them fourth in the table, so they have done plenty of damage themselves.
They have been a more aggressive scrummaging team under forwards coach Robin McBryde’s guidance in the last couple of seasons, with the veteran French tighthead Rabah Slimani seemingly having a big influence too.
The referee always has a big say on a scrum battle, of course, and it is interesting that Italy’s Andrea Piardi is in charge of the URC final again, having done the job at Croke Park last year.
Leinster did a fantastic job on the Bulls’ scrum last season, but as McBryde said this week, they have to do it all over again on Friday night.
It will be intriguing to see which two looseheads they select in the absence of Porter, Paddy McCarthy, and Jack Boyle.
20-year-old Alex Usanov came off the bench against the Stormers, while Connacht-bound Jerry Cahir and the experienced Ed Byrne are also in the mix.
Tighthead prop Furlong is back in the frame this week after injury that kept him out of the Stormers game, with Clarkson having been the main man at tighthead in recent times, and Slimani offering his nous.
Hooker Dan Sheehan is back in training having also missed the Stormers match, in which Rónan Kelleher had a superb game.
The Bulls front row will have a familiar look, with Springboks tighthead Wilco Louw potentially returning to the number three shirt after he was used off the bench in their semi-final win over Glasgow.
That said, 26-year-old François Klopper has put together an impressive season, keeping Mornay Smith – who came off the bench in last season’s final – out of the matchday squad at times.
Loosehead prop Gerhard Steenekamp missed last year’s final but is available this time, meaning he should team up with Jan-Hendrik Wessels in a dangerous pairing in the number one and number 17 shirts.
Johan Grobbelaar remains the frontliner at hooker, where he has put in impressive 80-minute shifts in the quarter-finals and semi-finals. That’s partly because Marco van Staden – best known as a back row – has also been covering hooker from the bench.
The Bulls included the fit-again Akker van der Merwe in their travelling squad for this URC final, so they have options.
The Bulls’ front row has lots of Springbok quality and, with plenty of beef behind them too, they will be out to put things right after last year’s disappointment at the scrum and across the rest of the final.
Steenekamp isn’t the only Bull who missed out on last year’s decider, with back rows Elrigh Louw and Cameron Hanekom also sidelined. As they showed once again in the recent semi-final win against Glasgow, they are very impactful players.
Springboks wing Kurt-Lee Arendse, who had a spell in Japanese club rugby last season, wasn’t part of the Bulls team at Croker in 2025 either, so he will look to add a different energy this time around.
Out-half Handré Pollard hadn’t yet re-joined the Bulls at that stage, of course, and he is undoubtedly the kind of player who could change their fortunes on Friday. He was wayward off the tee in the semi-final, a rare sight, but he usually oozes big-game quality.
Pollard will have assured the Bulls’ pack that if they can win him penalties within sight of the posts, his aim will be far more accurate on Friday.
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Bulls contest Final High Ball Leinster no scrum no win URC