{"id":507506,"date":"2026-06-19T07:00:16","date_gmt":"2026-06-19T07:00:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/507506\/"},"modified":"2026-06-19T07:00:16","modified_gmt":"2026-06-19T07:00:16","slug":"urc-grand-final-leinster-v-bulls","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/507506\/","title":{"rendered":"URC Grand Final: Leinster v Bulls"},"content":{"rendered":"

Twelve months on from Leinster and the Bulls meeting at Croke Park in the URC Grand Final, the sides will do it all again on Friday.<\/p>\n

After 20 games each in this URC season, it’s last year’s finalists who are once again still standing.<\/p>\n

Leinster, 32-7 winners when these teams met in the decider last year, will be hoping to become the URC’s first back-to-back champions, and finish the campaign on a high note after another Champions Cup final defeat last month.<\/p>\n

For the Bulls, this is their fourth time in five years getting to the URC showpiece but so far the trophy has eluded them, losing the finals in 2022, 2024 and 2025.<\/p>\n

Ahead of the ninth meeting of Ireland and South Africa’s best, here’s everything you need to know ahead of Friday night’s final.<\/p>\n

ONLINE<\/p>\n

We’ll have a live blog, report and reaction from Leinster v Bulls on RT\u00c9.ie\/sport and the RT\u00c9 News app.<\/p>\n

TV<\/p>\n

Leinster v Bulls (Friday, 7.30pm) is live Premier Sports, and available to stream on URC.tv.<\/p>\n

RADIO<\/p>\n

Listen to live commentary from Croke Park with an extended Inside Sport on RT\u00c9 Radio 1.<\/p>\n

WEATHER<\/p>\n

Conditions aren’t looking great for Friday night in north Dublin city, with muggy temperatures of around 18C, with showers scattered throughout the afternoon and evening, although it’s expected to be a moderate wind.<\/p>\n

Listen to the RT\u00c9 Rugby podcast on Apple Podcasts<\/a>, Spotify<\/a> or wherever you get your podcasts<\/a>, and email us at sportpodcasts@rte.ie<\/p>\n

\n

These sides have been familiar foes in the five years of the United Rugby Championship.<\/p>\n

Leinster were 31-3 winners when these teams met on the very first weekend of this competition back in September 2021, and this will be their ninth clash in total, with the South Africans leading the head-to-head 5-3 over that time.<\/p>\n

It will also be the fourth play-off clash between the sides. The Bulls produced a sensational semi-final raid on Leinster at the RDS in June 2022, before winning a semi-final in Pretoria in 2024, but Leinster gained revenge for that when they met in last year’s decider at Croke Park.<\/p>\n

Through the various guises of this competition, this will be Leinster’s 13th time in the final, with eight wins and four defeats, with Connacht the last team to beat them in the decider back in 2016 at Murrayfield.<\/p>\n

It will be the third South African opponent for Leinster in this season’s play-offs, after wins against the Lions and Stormers at Aviva Stadium, while the Bulls saw off Munster at home and Glasgow Warriors in Edinburgh to punch their ticket for Croke Park.<\/p>\n

\"16
\nLeinster captain Caelan Doris and Bulls skipper Marcell Coetzee pose with the URC trophy<\/p>\n

Johan Ackermann’s side have timed their run brilliantly, with eight wins on the spin in the URC dating back to March, and while Leinster have won five of their last six in all competitions, that one loss was a chastening Champions Cup final defeat to Bordeaux-Begles in Bilbao.<\/p>\n

Leinster head coach Leo Cullen has had mixed injury news in the build-up to the final, with Andrew Porter ruled out, but Tadhg Furlong and Caelan Doris have recovered from injuries to start, with Dan Sheehan also fit and available from the bench.<\/p>\n

There are three changes from the side that defeated Stormers last time out, with Jerry Cahir in for Porter, Furlong replacing Thomas Clarkson and Tommy O’Brien coming in to the right wing for Jimmy O’Brien.<\/p>\n

The Bulls have named an unchanged starting team and bench from their dramatic 22-21 semi-final win against Glasgow.<\/p>\n

Leinster: Hugo Keenan; Tommy O’Brien, Rieko Ioane, Jamie Osborne, James Lowe; Sam Prendergast, Jamison Gibson-Park; Jerry Cahir, R\u00f3nan Kelleher, Tadhg Furlong; Joe McCarthy, James Ryan; Max Deegan, Josh van der Flier, Caelan Doris (capt)<\/p>\n

Replacements: Dan Sheehan, Alex Usanov, Thomas Clarkson, Diarmuid Mangan, Jack Conan, Luke McGrath, Harry Byrne, Garry Ringrose<\/p>\n

Vodacom Bulls: Willie le Roux; Kurt-Lee Arendse, Canan Moodie, Harold Vorster, Stravino Jacobs; Handre Pollard, Embrose Papier; Gerhard Steenekamp, Johan Grobbelaar, Francois Klopper; Ruan Vermaak, Ruan Nortje; Marcell Coetzee (capt), Elrigh Louw, Cameron Hanekom<\/p>\n

Replacements: Marco van Staden, Jan\u2011Hendrik Wessels, Wilco Louw, Cobus Wiese, Jeandre Rudolph, Zak Burger, Stedman Gans, Nizaam Carr<\/p>\n

Referee: Andrea Piardi (FIR)<\/p>\n

PREVIOUS MEETINGS<\/p>\n

Bulls 39-31 Leinster – October 2025, Loftus Versfeld<\/p>\n

Leinster 32-7 Bulls – June 2025, Croke Park<\/p>\n

Bulls 21-20 Leinster, March 2025, Loftus Versfeld<\/p>\n

Bulls 25-20 Leinster, June 2024, Loftus Versfeld<\/p>\n

Leinster 47-14 Bulls , March 2024, RDS<\/p>\n

Bulls 62-7 Leinster, April 2023, Loftus Versfeld<\/p>\n

Leinster 26-27 Bulls, June 2022, RDS<\/p>\n

Leinster 31-3 Bulls, September 2021, Aviva Stadium<\/p>\n

FULL LIST OF FIXTURES, RESULTS AND STANDINGS<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Twelve months on from Leinster and the Bulls meeting at Croke Park in the URC Grand Final, the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":507507,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[61,60,112],"class_list":["post-507506","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/507506","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=507506"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/507506\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/507507"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=507506"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=507506"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=507506"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}