Canan Moodie of the Bulls in action during the United Rugby Championship semifinal match between the Bulls and Sharks at Loftus Versfeld, in Pretoria, South Africa, on 7 June 2025 . (Photo: Anton Geyser / Gallo Images)
In 2022 the Bulls caused the first great upset of the fledgling United Rugby Championship by beating the mighty Leinster in the semifinal in Dublin.
The 27-26 win was more convincing than the final score suggested as Leinster scored late when victory was out of reach.
It was a statement win by Jake White’s team and one that probably represents the high mark of the Bulls’ history in the URC.
On that occasion the match was played at the multipurpose RDS Arena, which seats 18,500, although it was far from full that day, such was Leinster’s confidence that winning was a formality.
Read more: All-South African URC final set for Cape Town after Stormers and Bulls advance
In 2025 the same two sides will meet again in the URC final – this time at the 82,300 capacity Croke Park. It’s highly unlikely Croke Park will be more than half full for the showpiece match.
That would be disappointing as a URC record 80,468 attended a group-stage match between Leinster and great rivals Munster earlier this season.
Which is probably good news for the Bulls as the challenge of toppling Leinster at home is daunting enough in front of about 40,000, never mind 80,000.
The Bulls subsequently lost the 2022 final against the Stormers and last year were defeated at home at Loftus against Glasgow. Their record in the final is disappointing, especially the home setback last season, but at least they’re in it again.
The Bulls remain consistent – much like Leinster – in the group stage, but have yet to find the secret to getting over the line in the big one.
They have experience now – 10 players who competed in the 2022 semifinal are in the squad for the 2025 final.
But there has been a significantly high turnover of players from 12 months ago with only 13 survivors from the 2024 final, featuring this year against Leinster.
Lottery
/file/dailymaverick/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/TL_2408317.jpg "Bulls coach Jake White has praised fellow URC contender Leinster as a ‘quality, well-coached team’. (Photo: Sydney Seshibedi / Gallo Images)")
While the challenge against a team that has not lost a home URC game this season will be immense, White was his usual optimistic self in the build-up this week.
“The wonderful thing for us is that we have a Lotto ticket. You can’t win the Lotto if you don’t have a ticket. We have a 50% chance of winning on Saturday. That’s how sport works,” White said this week.
The URC has slowly started gaining traction in South Africa since the disintegration of Super Rugby, and a Bulls win in Dublin would be a further boost for the fledgling tournament.
“People didn’t buy into Super Rugby at first either. They didn’t know who the guys from Otago or Waikato were, and over time they saw the value,” White said about the URC’s status.
“It’s the same with the URC. They still don’t fully understand what counts as URC or EPCR [European Professional Club Rugby].”
“We need to win this tournament as it could help our public take it more seriously. I’ve got some messages from back home, and it’s from people in Cape Town who are supporting the Bulls, and people in Durban who are supporting the Bulls.
“That’s just what happens when rugby fever hits; they’ve bought into it, and it’s no different to how it happened in Super Rugby.”
Leinster standard
White is an experienced coach and he knows how to play the psychological battle as well as anyone. He was quick to remind everyone how brilliant Leinster are individually, as well as collectively.
“Let’s be fair, we’re playing Ireland on Saturday, just in a different colour jersey. That’s probably why South Africa have all tuned in because they know these players as Irish internationals,” White said.
“Leinster is a quality, well-coached team that is revered by many in this competition. My message to my players for the last four months was to try and match Leinster’s consistency, and we have, and now we’re in the final.
“I think they’ve got 23 internationals, and that’s only because they’re only allowed to play 23. So, they’ve got many more internationals than we’ve got. I’ll repeat myself, they are the benchmark of where every club team wants to get to.
“When you think about it, if you have a board meeting and you ask for a tighthead prop and you get Rabah Slimani, and you ask for a lock and you get RG Snyman, and you ask for an inside back and you get Jordie Barrett, there’s not many clubs in the world that would be able to go into a board meeting and not just firstly get that, secondly not only get the positions but thirdly get that calibre of player.
“We’ve got better, and our team is growing, and we are much better than we were four years ago when this group started. As I said to Ruan [Nortje] when we walked in, he was 21 when he started playing and now he’s 26. And a lot of his teammates from juniors were in that team, and then came the younger guys like Canan [Moodie].
“So we’re still not where we want to be, and that’s selfishly from me as a director, but we are far better.”
/file/dailymaverick/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/2209219038.jpg "Jack Conan (with the ball) of Leinster in action. (Photo by Charles McQuillan/Getty Images)")
There is great pressure on Leinster – if they lose, it will mark their fourth straight season without a trophy.
Leinster coach Leo Cullen knows that his side are under pressure but he was not buying the line that the loser of the final should be considered a “failure.”
“They’re all individual games. Every playoff game is a final as such,” Cullen said.
“We have played in lots of playoff games, whether they come in a quarterfinal, semifinal or final. The group is learning all the time, young players come through and you are adding layers of experience.
“I think the way some of the questions are leading me it’s like whoever loses is a failure in this game. They are two good teams going at it. If you lose in a final, are you classified as a failure?
“Look through their team, there’s a ton of experience,” Cullen said with a laugh.
“I know Jake was saying they’re a young squad. I’m not sure what squad he’s talking about. That’s not a young group;that’s not a young team.
“Is he trying to lull us all into some false sense, is he? A young group? Do you see a young group there? They’re a serious experienced group we’re up against and a team that has unbelievably high standards, that is used to winning. It’s in their blood isn’t it?” DM
Teams
Leinster: 15 Jimmy O’Brien, 14 Tommy O’Brien, 13 Garry Ringrose, 12 Jordie Barrett, 11 James Lowe, 10 Sam Prendergast, 9 Jamison Gibson-Park, 8 Jack Conan (captain), 7 Josh van der Flier, 6 Ryan Baird, 5 James Ryan, 4 Joe McCarthy, 3 Thomas Clarkson, 2 Dan Sheehan, 1 Andrew Porter
Replacements: 16 Rónan Kelleher, 17 Jack Boyle, 18 Rabah Slimani, 19 RG Snyman, 20 Max Deegan, 21 Luke McGrath, 22 Ross Byrne, 23 Jamie Osborne.
Bulls: 15 Willie le Roux, 14 Canan Moodie, 13 David Kriel, 12 Harold Vorster, 11 Sebastian de Klerk, 10 Johan Goosen, 9 Embrose Papier, 8 Marcell Coetzee, 7 Ruan Nortje (captain), 6 Marco van Staden, 5 JF van Heerden, 4 Cobus Wiese, 3 Wilco Louw, 2 Johan Grobbelaar, 1 Jan-Hendrik Wessels.
Replacements: 16 Akker van der Merwe, 17 Alulutho Tshakweni, 18 Mornay Smith, 19 Jannes Kirsten, 20 Nizaam Carr, 21 Zak Burger, 22 Keagan Johannes, 23 Devon Williams.
Date: 14 June
Kick-off: 6pm
Referee: Andrea Piardi (Italy)
Assistant referees: Mike Adamson (Scotland), Sam Grove-White (Scotland)
TMO: Matteo Liperini (Italy)