LEINSTER MAY HAVE been the best team in the URC regular season in three of the last four years, finishing top of the table by a distance, but they have no silverware to show for it.
Such is the reality of top-level rugby nowadays. Football still has genuine league competitions where the best side over the course of the season gets the trophy, but rugby has veered away from that kind of reward for sustained performances.
Earning silverware requires composure and class in knock-out rugby, something that has evaded Leinster in the United Rugby Championship since the four big South African sides joined in 2021. Indeed, today’s clash with the Bulls at Croke Park [KO 5pm, TG4/Premier Sports] is Leinster’s first-ever URC final.
The Bulls have been here before, twice. They too have yet to lift the URC trophy, so there is a similarity between these sides. Both have been consistently good in recent years, leading the way for their nations, but haven’t been able to get over the line.
Jake White’s men finished second in the URC regular-season table, so this final truly is a meeting of the two best teams in the championship. It’s a riveting match-up of strengths and while Leinster are deserved favourites, there should be fireworks at GAA headquarters.
Their history makes it all the more fascinating. They have met in the URC five times. The Bulls have won four times. Twice, those victories were in the semi-finals. The Bulls rocked up to the RDS back in 2022 and shocked the Irish province. Even springing Johnny Sexton from the bench couldn’t save Leinster.
Then last year, Leinster travelled to Pretoria and were squeezed out by White’s powerful team. The Bulls have beaten them in two other regular-season games at Loftus Versfeld, so Leinster will be glad this one is on home soil.
It’s a big advantage for Leo Cullen’s men, who looked in determined, focused form as they swept past defending champions Glasgow in last weekend’s semi-final. The vicious physical edge to Leinster’s performance will have settled some of their fans’ nerves.
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Bulls lock Cobus Wiese is a powerful presence. Bryan Keane / INPHO
Bryan Keane / INPHO / INPHO
But there will still be jitters among some of the 40,000 or so who make their way to Croke Park this evening. The longer Leinster’s wait for a trophy has gone on since they lifted the Pro14 back in 2021, the worse the anxiety has grown.
Captain Jack Conan – who continues to lead the side in Caelan Doris’ absence – and his lieutenants will need to show lots of composure against a Bulls challenge that should be ferocious.
The South African pack has been excellent this season, particularly at the scrum where the gigantic tighthead Wilco Louw and clever loosehead Jan-Hendrik Wessels have shone. That could be the key battleground today, as Leinster back 25-year-old tighthead Thomas Clarkson to deliver another strong showing with Tadhg Furlong still sidelined.
The lineout and maul will be hard-fought, while the Bulls will look to test Leinster in a physical manner that teams like Glasgow can’t. The fact that there may be rain in Dublin today could add to the attritional nature of this contest. Referee Andrea Piardi will need to be on his game.
With the physicality in mind, it must be a great pleasure for Cullen and Jacques Nienaber to welcome back openside flanker Josh van der Flier and outside centre Garry Ringrose from injury.
Robbie Henshaw is still injured so couldn’t have returned, but Jordie Barrett would surely have started at number 12 anyway. Leinster will look to the Kiwi star to bid farewell to his short-term stint in Ireland with a big performance, while they’ll expect Springboks lock RG Snyman to provide major impact off the bench.
The Bulls are missing a key man in number eight Cameron Hanekom, who has been relentless this season, but they’re hardly short of dynamism. Marco van Staden comes in to bring even more breakdown danger for Leinster, while the likes of Marcell Coetzee and Cobus Wiese will look to give them momentum in the carry.
Leinster have their own weapons in that sense, with the likes of Joe McCarthy, James Ryan, Ryan Baird, and wing Tommy O’Brien bringing major physicality last time out against Glasgow.
Both sides love to kick the ball, topping the URC charts in that regard, so the tactical touches from the likes of Leinster out-half Sam Prendergast and the Bulls’ influential fullback Willie le Roux should be key in deciding how this game flows. And the aerial contests will be exactly that – a fight for the ball every single time.
Prendergast will also be looking to nail a goal kick as early as possible after a wayward afternoon against Glasgow last time out.
Sam Prendergast is key to Leinster's kicking game. Laszlo Geczo / INPHO
Laszlo Geczo / INPHO / INPHO
The Bulls will hope to bring Leinster into a tense endgame, their intention being to test how Cullen’s men handle the kind of severe pressure that makes knock-out rugby so fiendishly difficult. Leinster will look for a trademark fast start.
Cullen believes that his team ending their wait for silverware could lead to many more trophies in the years ahead, but all that matters today is becoming URC champions.
If Leinster play to the level they’re truly capable of, with Jamison Gibson-Park pulling the strings, James Lowe making magic happen, and the piano shifters up front bringing the heat, they should have enough to win this intriguing finale.
That would be a glorious thing for players and supporters alike to celebrate.
LEINSTER: Jimmy O’Brien; Tommy O’Brien, Garry Ringrose, Jordie Barrett, James Lowe; Sam Prendergast, Jamison Gibson-Park; Andrew Porter, Dan Sheehan, Thomas Clarkson; Joe McCarthy, James Ryan; Ryan Baird, Josh van der Flier, Jack Conan (captain).
Replacements: Rónan Kelleher, Jack Boyle, Rabah Slimani, RG Snyman, Max Deegan, Luke McGrath, Ross Byrne, Jamie Osborne.
BULLS: Willie le Roux; Canan Moodie, David Kriel, Harold Vorster, Sebastian de Klerk; Johan Goosen, Embrose Papier; Jan-Hendrik Wessels, Johan Grobbelaar, Wilco Louw; Cobus Wiese, JF van Heerden; Marco van Staden, Ruan Nortje (captain), Marcell Coetzee.
Replacements: Akker van der Merwe, Alulutho Tshakweni, Mornay Smith, Jannes Kirsten, Nizaam Carr, Zak Burger, Keagan Johannes, Devon Williams
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Bulls bid to test Leinster's composure in exciting URC final
LEINSTER MAY HAVE been the best team in the URC regular season in three of the last four years, finishing top of the table by a distance, but they have no silverware to show for it.
Such is the reality of top-level rugby nowadays. Football still has genuine league competitions where the best side over the course of the season gets the trophy, but rugby has veered away from that kind of reward for sustained performances.
Earning silverware requires composure and class in knock-out rugby, something that has evaded Leinster in the United Rugby Championship since the four big South African sides joined in 2021. Indeed, today’s clash with the Bulls at Croke Park [KO 5pm, TG4/Premier Sports] is Leinster’s first-ever URC final.
The Bulls have been here before, twice. They too have yet to lift the URC trophy, so there is a similarity between these sides. Both have been consistently good in recent years, leading the way for their nations, but haven’t been able to get over the line.
Jake White’s men finished second in the URC regular-season table, so this final truly is a meeting of the two best teams in the championship. It’s a riveting match-up of strengths and while Leinster are deserved favourites, there should be fireworks at GAA headquarters.
Their history makes it all the more fascinating. They have met in the URC five times. The Bulls have won four times. Twice, those victories were in the semi-finals. The Bulls rocked up to the RDS back in 2022 and shocked the Irish province. Even springing Johnny Sexton from the bench couldn’t save Leinster.
Then last year, Leinster travelled to Pretoria and were squeezed out by White’s powerful team. The Bulls have beaten them in two other regular-season games at Loftus Versfeld, so Leinster will be glad this one is on home soil.
It’s a big advantage for Leo Cullen’s men, who looked in determined, focused form as they swept past defending champions Glasgow in last weekend’s semi-final. The vicious physical edge to Leinster’s performance will have settled some of their fans’ nerves.
But there will still be jitters among some of the 40,000 or so who make their way to Croke Park this evening. The longer Leinster’s wait for a trophy has gone on since they lifted the Pro14 back in 2021, the worse the anxiety has grown.
Captain Jack Conan – who continues to lead the side in Caelan Doris’ absence – and his lieutenants will need to show lots of composure against a Bulls challenge that should be ferocious.
The South African pack has been excellent this season, particularly at the scrum where the gigantic tighthead Wilco Louw and clever loosehead Jan-Hendrik Wessels have shone. That could be the key battleground today, as Leinster back 25-year-old tighthead Thomas Clarkson to deliver another strong showing with Tadhg Furlong still sidelined.
The lineout and maul will be hard-fought, while the Bulls will look to test Leinster in a physical manner that teams like Glasgow can’t. The fact that there may be rain in Dublin today could add to the attritional nature of this contest. Referee Andrea Piardi will need to be on his game.
With the physicality in mind, it must be a great pleasure for Cullen and Jacques Nienaber to welcome back openside flanker Josh van der Flier and outside centre Garry Ringrose from injury.
Robbie Henshaw is still injured so couldn’t have returned, but Jordie Barrett would surely have started at number 12 anyway. Leinster will look to the Kiwi star to bid farewell to his short-term stint in Ireland with a big performance, while they’ll expect Springboks lock RG Snyman to provide major impact off the bench.
The Bulls are missing a key man in number eight Cameron Hanekom, who has been relentless this season, but they’re hardly short of dynamism. Marco van Staden comes in to bring even more breakdown danger for Leinster, while the likes of Marcell Coetzee and Cobus Wiese will look to give them momentum in the carry.
Leinster have their own weapons in that sense, with the likes of Joe McCarthy, James Ryan, Ryan Baird, and wing Tommy O’Brien bringing major physicality last time out against Glasgow.
Both sides love to kick the ball, topping the URC charts in that regard, so the tactical touches from the likes of Leinster out-half Sam Prendergast and the Bulls’ influential fullback Willie le Roux should be key in deciding how this game flows. And the aerial contests will be exactly that – a fight for the ball every single time.
Prendergast will also be looking to nail a goal kick as early as possible after a wayward afternoon against Glasgow last time out.
The Bulls will hope to bring Leinster into a tense endgame, their intention being to test how Cullen’s men handle the kind of severe pressure that makes knock-out rugby so fiendishly difficult. Leinster will look for a trademark fast start.
Cullen believes that his team ending their wait for silverware could lead to many more trophies in the years ahead, but all that matters today is becoming URC champions.
If Leinster play to the level they’re truly capable of, with Jamison Gibson-Park pulling the strings, James Lowe making magic happen, and the piano shifters up front bringing the heat, they should have enough to win this intriguing finale.
That would be a glorious thing for players and supporters alike to celebrate.
LEINSTER: Jimmy O’Brien; Tommy O’Brien, Garry Ringrose, Jordie Barrett, James Lowe; Sam Prendergast, Jamison Gibson-Park; Andrew Porter, Dan Sheehan, Thomas Clarkson; Joe McCarthy, James Ryan; Ryan Baird, Josh van der Flier, Jack Conan (captain).
Replacements: Rónan Kelleher, Jack Boyle, Rabah Slimani, RG Snyman, Max Deegan, Luke McGrath, Ross Byrne, Jamie Osborne.
BULLS: Willie le Roux; Canan Moodie, David Kriel, Harold Vorster, Sebastian de Klerk; Johan Goosen, Embrose Papier; Jan-Hendrik Wessels, Johan Grobbelaar, Wilco Louw; Cobus Wiese, JF van Heerden; Marco van Staden, Ruan Nortje (captain), Marcell Coetzee.
Replacements: Akker van der Merwe, Alulutho Tshakweni, Mornay Smith, Jannes Kirsten, Nizaam Carr, Zak Burger, Keagan Johannes, Devon Williams
Referee: Andrea Piardi [Italy].
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Battle Bulls Leinster Leo Cullen Preview Showdown