Stormers director of rugby John Dobson believes the Bulls will have the upper hand in the scrums.
The Bulls and Leinster in URC action during their pool match at Loftus Versfeld in October last year. Picture: Sydney Seshibedi/Gallo Images
An entertaining conclusion to the 2025-26 United Rugby Championship (URC) season is set to be battled out between the Bulls and defending champs Leinster at Croke Park in Dublin next week Friday.
It is a replay of last season’s final at the same ground, where the hosts emerged with a thumping 32-7 win to secure their first URC title, and ninth overall when including previous iterations of the tournament.
But this season is very different to last, with Leinster not as dominant a force, and the Bulls will fancy their chances, with them currently in top form.
Last season Leinster were almost unstoppable and finished top of the URC log after winning 16 of 18 pool games, and then cruised through the play-offs, comfortably beating Scarlets 33-21, Glasgow Warriors 37-19 and then the Bulls in the title match.
This season however, they won 12 and lost six of their pool matches, showing their vulnerability, but hit some good form with big pool wins over the Lions and Ospreys going into the play-offs, and then thrashed the Lions again in their quarter-final.
But their semifinal clash against the Stormers brought them back down to earth, as they edged a brutal contest 20-11, which could have been a lot different had the Cape visitors not been issued three cards in the second half.
So that should give the Bulls confidence, coupled with their impressive comeback 22-21 semifinal win over Glasgow, and knowing that they have done it before, back in URC season one when they upset Leinster 27-26 at the RDS Arena in the semifinals.
Powerful defence
Stormers director of rugby John Dobson felt that Leinster were the stronger attacking team, but he believed the Bulls would likely have the upper hand in the scrums, and if they could defend like they did in their semi win, they could cause an upset.
“The final will be a good game but we defended really well. If rugby is about the team that attacks, then Leinster deserved to win,” Dobson said after their semifinal.
“I thought we got the edge in the scrum against Leinster, and the Bulls also have a good scrum. So Leinster are going to have to handle the Bulls scrum.
“I think the final will be very close, much like this (semifinal) game. I’d say we are very similar (when it comes to physicality), although I like to think we play with a bit more flow.
“Obviously Dublin is a very different environment to Loftus, which is more than 1,400 metres above sea level, so playing here (in Ireland) is a very different challenge (for the Bulls). But we both pride ourselves on our set piece and physical approach. It should be a tight final.”
Lost momentum
Dobson admitted his bitter disappointment that his team couldn’t sustain their early momentum in the URC this season, after winning their first eight straight games before an up-and-down second half saw them lose six and win four of their next 10.
That saw them finish third on the log and meant they had to travel for their semifinal against Leinster, and with how close the match was, if they had been on home turf they might have been able to get the win.
“It was very disappointing to lose the semifinal and I think we have to reflect that if it were not for that disappointing loss at home to Connacht (in April), we would have played Leinster at home,” said Dobson.
“I think after what we saw in this game, that would have been a lot more useful, playing Leinster in Cape Town. But we’ve always wanted to go to the Aviva and play a full-strength Leinster, with something like 800 international caps or so.
“To see where we are in our development, and in that regard, I thought we did reasonably well. We were without a lot of key players so I think with a few adjustments and a few guys coming in we can challenge really strongly in future.
“I feel really miserable now, and really bitter we weren’t able to set up a Cape Town final. Everything in the city would have been rugby mad for two weeks. But after a few Guinness, I am sure we will see the plenty of positives that we got out of this experience and feel a lot better about it.”
