FRIDAY’S URC FINAL meeting of Leinster and the Bulls sees the sides clash in the knockout stages for the fourth time.

The previous three meetings have created an intriguing rivalry. Leinster have come up short twice against powerful, determined Bulls efforts, while the South Africans were way off the pace the one time they met in the URC final.

The first play-off meeting between the teams came in 2022, when the Bulls visited the RDS in the semi-finals.

A week previously, Leinster had stomped Glasgow 76-14 in the quarter-finals, a few hours after the Bulls had edged the Sharks 30-27.

Leinster were defending champions, but Leo Cullen’s side were still hurting from a painful Champions Cup final loss to La Rochelle two weeks previously. They remained strong favourites to reach the URC decider, having topped the table on 67 points – six clear of the second-placed Stormers and nine ahead of the Bulls in fourth.

Despite having to make the long journey from South Africa on a six-day turnaround, the Bulls, who had made a marked improvement across the season, sensed opportunity and delivered a bruising, determined display at a rocking RDS on a night where Leinster played some sharp rugby, but paid the price for inaccuracies.

The South Africans stepped into the final – which they would lose against the Stormers in Cape Town – as Leinster ended the season trophyless.

After the pain of Marseille, the province faced into a long, hard summer of reflection.

“It is pretty sick in there,” said Leo Cullen. “The Bulls are a quality team, they came with a good plan, they were well coached and once they had a lead and played that pressure game, they didn’t have to do huge amount, but they just put the squeeze on us.

“We created plenty of opportunities but, you know, when you come to semi-finals against top-end teams, you need all your players sort of in an eight, nine, 10 out of 10 in terms of how they play the game. Unfortunately for us, some of us were just not good enough today.”

Two years later, the sides would again face-off in the last four – just one point had separated them in the final URC table, with an extra losing bonus point nudging the Bulls ahead of Leinster to second place.

This time, it was the Bulls playing host in Pretoria, Jake White’s team overcoming Benetton in the quarters while Leinster had seen off Ulster 43-20 at the Aviva Stadium. As an added incentive, Leinster knew a win in South Africa would book a home final against Munster or Glasgow.

The game proved to be another tight, gruelling encounter, with a heavy focus on kicking and the aerial battle. 

And the decisive moment came from one such instance. With the scores level at 20-20 in the 67th minute, Bulls’ nine Embrose Papier sent an aerial bomb in the direction of Ciarán Frawley. Initially, the Leinster player looked positioned to take possession but instead, Bulls winger Sergeal Petersen made light of the height difference between the two to nip in and steal the ball, before running in the game-deciding score.

Even without missing Springboks Kurt-Lee Arendse, Canan Moodie and Marcell Coetzee, the Bulls had enough to end Leinster’s URC season for the second time in three seasons.

“This is one of the biggest wins I’ve ever had as a coach,” said Bulls boss Jake White.

“I was lucky enough at the Brumbies to beat the British & Irish Lions. But I would say man-for-man, with the pressure that comes with a game like this, especially because Ireland are coming down here in three weeks, that’s the added bonus that makes this one of the best club results I’ve had.”

The Bulls would lose the final at home to Glasgow, while Leinster’s season ended with a third straight URC semi-final defeat, having already lost an epic Champions Cup final battle with Toulouse.

“It was an unbelievably tight game. We knew that the Bulls would come out all guns blazing, hitting us in lots of different areas, [such as the] aerial contest,” said Cullen.

“But again, just a couple of errors and we didn’t quite deal with a couple of different things. They were unbelievably skilled in that area of the contest – to win the ball for that try at the end. We had chances after that, but the Bulls were very resolute and dogged in defence and deserve a lot of credit for the way they won the game.”

Twelve months down the line, Leinster and the Bulls would meet again in the URC Grand Final, a game which would prove to be the least competitive of their growing knockout rivalry. (Leinster beating Glasgow in the quarters, the Bulls getting through against the Sharks).

The scene was Croke Park, and Leinster were again reeling from a gutting Champions Cup semi-final defeat to Northampton Saints.

Yet on URC final day, they were utterly dominant against a disappointing Bulls team in front of 46,127 fans. The province scored four tries and having being bullied physically by the Bulls in previous encounters, the Leinster pack came out on top in the tight exchanges, with Ryan Baird and Jack Conan leading that fight.

Leinster raced 19-0 up inside the opening 20 minutes and held the Bulls scoreless until the 51st minute.

“You have to understand, this is not a normal rugby team,” said White, who would soon depart his role as Bulls boss.

“We are naive when… I made a note in my book, they are 19-0 up and bring on RG Snyman.

“It’s just a different league altogether and that’s why Leinster supporters are probably so disappointed (during the season) because they were waiting for that performance the whole year, and we just happened to get the 40 minutes that they were waiting for the whole year.”

“I say again to all the Irish, I don’t think they give the credit to that Leinster team,” White added.

“They are well-coached, they are fantastic guys as well. Since I started at this level with URC, they are the benchmark and tonight they showed it again.”

White may have viewed Leinster as the benchmark, but the success marked Leinster’s first trophy since 2021. 

“It was an amazing occasion at Croke Park and the stuff of dreams, for kids in Ireland growing up to experience the final here,” Cullen said.

“We had this question yesterday… Is your season, when you get to a final, is it a success or a failure?

“Unfortunately, you guys (media), the way you write, the losers of a final suddenly are failures. Whereas you get to the last day of the competition, I think you need to celebrate the two teams that are in the final.

“Obviously we’ve been on the flip side of that in the past. Does that deem us failures? I personally don’t think it’s a failure. We win today, it’s great but we’ll move onto the next challenge.”

A year later, Leinster are defending URC champions but feeling the pressure again after another Champions Cup disappointment. They overcame a stubborn Stormers side who let their discipline slip in the semis, while the Bulls were impressive winners away to Glasgow.

Now under the leadership of Johaan Ackermann, and with Handre Pollard back pulling the strings at 10, the Bulls are in a better place than they were this time last year. Leinster will be favourites on Friday night in Drumcondra, but must be wary of a Bulls side who have a point of their own to prove, having lost three of the four URC finals.