After nine months of action, it all comes down to 80 minutes on Friday night at Croke Park where defending champions Leinster battle it out with the Vodacom Bulls.
Tickets for the BKT United Rugby Championship decider, which will kick off at 7.30pm, are available to buy here from Ticketmaster.ie.
This is the fourth knock-out match between these giants of North and South since 2022, with the Bulls winning two semi-finals, and Leinster winning the 2025 final at Croke Park.
TEST MATCH IN CLUB COLOURS
There is a staggering level of Test-level talent within both of these teams, with their matchday 23s from the semi-finals including 37 internationals from Ireland and South Africa, a number of whom are Rugby World Cup champions and British & Irish Lions Series winners.
- The Bulls named 11 Springboks in their starting XV against Glasgow Warriors with a further five on the bench
- Willie le Roux, Kurt-Lee Arendse, Canan Moodie, Marco van Staden, and Handré Pollard were all part of South Africa's World Cup title win in 2023
- Leinster named a starting XV including 14 Ireland internationals and one All Black (Rieko Ioane), while 11 of their matchday squad were part of the successful 2025 British & Irish Lions tour
- Of those 11 players, eight of them appeared in Test matches against Australia: Hugo Keenan, James Lowe, Jamison Gibson-Park, Andrew Porter, Rónan Kelleher, Joe McCarthy, James Ryan, and Jack Conan
THESE TEAMS ARE THE STANDARD IN IRELAND, SOUTH AFRICA, AND THE BKT URC
Leinster and the Bulls are the leading teams on either side of the URC's Ireland v South Africa rivalry.
Leo Cullen's men have the best Irish record against South African teams, while the Bulls have the best South African record against Irish opposition.
- Leinster have the best Irish record against South African teams, both by wins (15 out of 26) and win percentage (57.7%). They are the only Irish side above 55%
- The Bulls have the best South African record against Irish teams, and by a clear margin (15 wins out of 24 = 62.5%). They are the only South African side above 50% against Irish opposition
- The 2026 final brings together the URC era's two strongest away performers, Leinster with the league's best away win rate, and the Bulls as the only other team above 50%
- Leinster's home win percentage is 88.5%, which is the second best in the URC era, behind Glasgow Warriors (91.7%)