Will the Vodacom Bulls be third time lucky or can Leinster break their Vodacom United Rugby Championship drought?
These questions will be answered when the men from Pretoria take on the Irish giants in the Grand Final of the cross-hemisphere competition in Dublin on Saturday, where both teams will be looking to break their playoff hoodoo and win the title after several seasons of getting within range of lifting the trophy.
With last season’s champions, the Glasgow Warriors, losing out on the right to defend their title after being knocked out of the competition by Leinster in the semi-final, a new champion will be crowned at Croke Park. The match kicks off at 18h00 and will be broadcast live on SuperSport.
This will mark the Vodacom Bulls’ third appearance in the Grand Final since the 2021/2022 season, and the first for Leinster since 2020/21 season, when they won the last of their eight titles, meaning both sides’ desperation levels will be at their peak going into the match.
With Leinster finishing the league stages as the top team, followed by the men from Pretoria, it will be a fitting Grand Final between the best two teams in the competition.
Spicing up the clash, it will be a duel between the two best attacking teams, with Leinster having scored 612 points this season to 609 by the Vodacom Bulls – but the visitors will have to capitalise on most of their point-scoring chances as the hosts boast the best defensive record this season by far, with only 296 points conceded in 20 matches to 407 by the opposition.
The Vodacom Bulls, however, will draw massive inspiration from the fact that they defeated Leinster by 21-20 at home in the pool stages this season, as well as in the semi-finals in 2023/24 in Pretoria and 2021/22 in Dublin, which contributed to an impressive track record of four victories in the last six encounters between the teams in the tournament.
Interestingly, Leinster have a spotless home track record this season, where they won all 11 of their matches, but this will not intimidate the Vodacom Bulls, who only suffered two defeats away from home – against the Scarlets and Hollywoodbets Sharks – and are currently on an eight-match winning streak.
Leinster will draw comfort from the fact that they have won all four of their previous matches at Croke Park – the last of which was against Munster in October. But anything can happen in the playoffs, especially with the Vodacom Bulls hunting their first Vodacom URC title and Leinster determined to make up for dropping out at crucial times in the last few seasons.
With so much emotion and desperation by both teams going into the match, it is expected to be an epic encounter between the two powerhouses.
The Vodacom Bulls have made one forced change to their match-23, with Springbok flanker Marco van Staden slotting into the starting pack, with Marcell Coetzee moving to No 8 in place of the injured Cameron Hanekom. Nizaam Carr has been included on the bench.
The Leinster team show two changes to the starting XV from their semi-final win over Glasgow, with Garry Ringrose (centre) and Josh van der Flier (flanker) returning from injury.
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.
Vodacom 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 Simphiwe Matanzima, 18 Mornay Smith, 19 Jannes Kirsten, 20 Nizaam Carr, 21 Zak Burger, 22 Keagan Johannes, 23 Devon Williams.
Vodacom URC Grand Final match information:
- Leinster v Vodacom Bulls
- Date: Saturday, 14 June
- Venue: Croke Park, Dublin
- SA Time: 18h00
- Referee: Andrea Piardi
- TV: SuperSport
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