URC Grand Final: Leinster v The Bulls
Leinster captain Jack Conan and Vodacom Bulls captain Ruan Norté Mandatory Credit ©INPHO/Ben Brady
Ahead of the historic meeting of Leinster and the Vodacom Bulls at Dublin’s Croke Park for the BKT URC Grand Final, it’s worth taking a look at the stats and facts the create such an intriguing storylines around these two incredible teams.
URC History
This year’s Grand Final will see the fourth different winner in four seasons and the first to be played outside South Africa. It is also the the third cross-hemisphere final in a row.
Croke Park
This is the first time that Croke Park, the home of the GAA, will play host to a URC final but not the first time a team from South Africa have played there. The Springboks visited in 2009 and lost 15-10 to Ireland.
Leinster
Leinster have won the league, in its various forms eight times but have not been crowned champions in the URC era. They last lifted a trophy in front of their home fans when they won the league in 2018 defeating Scarlets in the PRO14 Final.
Leinster’s Jamie Osbourne and RG Snyman were named in the URC Elite XV team of the season while Snyman was named Player’s Player of the Season.
Their record against the Bulls stands at: Played 6; Won 2; Lost 4; Scored 151; Conceded 138
Vodacom Bulls
South Africa’s most successful club side, the Vodacom Bulls have won three Super Rugby titles and 25 Currie Cups. They beat Leinster in the 2022 and 2024 semi-finals but lost the Grand Final in both years (2022 v Stormers and 2024 v Glasgow Warriors).
The Bulls squad inlcudes double World Cup winner Willie Le Roux and they have three players voted into the URC ‘Elite XV’ team of the season: Jan-Hendrik Wessels, Wilco Louw, Cameron Hanekom.