| Home team | Leinster |
| Away team | Bulls |
| Venue | Croke Park |
| Competition | URC Final |
| Kick off time | 7:30 pm (UK and Ireland) |
| Watch Live in the UK | Premier Sports |
Leinster vs Bulls URC Grand Final preview as the sides meet at Croke Park.
Leinster come into the final after a win over South African opposition against the Stormers in the semi-final, with the Leinster and Bulls team announcements confirming the Test-class weight on both sides and Sam Prendergast’s selection giving Leo Cullen another major call to justify.
The Bulls come to the final after an impressive away win against the Glasgow Warriors in the semi-final.
Leinster finished second in the regular season table with 63 points, while the Bulls finished in fourth, just four points behind their final opponents on 59 points.
This is a repeat of the 2025 final, where Leinster came out on top. Of the four finals since South African teams became involved, the Bulls have been in three of them, losing all three.
Read more match previews for all your rugby action here
Leinster vs Bulls lineups tbc
| Leinster | Bulls | ||||
| Forwards | |||||
| Cahir | 1 | Steenekamp | |||
| Kelleher | 2 | Grobbelaar | |||
| Furlong | 3 | Klopper | |||
| McCarthy | 4 | Vermaak | |||
| Ryan | 5 | Nortje | |||
| Deegan | 6 | Coetzee | |||
| Van Der Flier | 7 | Louw | |||
| Doris | 8 | Hanekom | |||
| Backs | |||||
| Gibson-Park | 9 | Papier | |||
| Prendergast | 10 | Pollard | |||
| Lowe | 11 | Jacobs | |||
| Osborne | 12 | Vorster | |||
| Ioane | 13 | Moodie | |||
| T O’Brien | 14 | Arendse | |||
| Keenan | 15 | Le Roux | |||
| Replacements | |||||
| Sheehan | 16 | Van Staden | |||
| Usanov | 17 | Wessels | |||
| Clarkson | 18 | Louw | |||
| Mangan | 19 | Wiese | |||
| Conan | 20 | Rudolph | |||
| McGrath | 21 | Burger | |||
| Byrne | 22 | Gans | |||
| Ringrose | 23 | Carr | |||
Recent Form:
Leinster (Home team):
| Result | Date | Competition | Opponent | Score |
| Won | 6th June 2026 | URC Playoffs | Stormers | 20-11 |
| Won | 30th May 2026 | URC Playoffs | Lions | 59-10 |
| Loss | 23rd May 2026 | Champions Cup Final | Bordeaux Begles | 19-41 |
| Won | 16th May 2026 | URC | Ospreys | 68-14 |
| Won | 9th May 2026 | URC | Lions | 31-7 |
Leinster have won five of their last six games, with their only defeat coming against Bordeaux Begles in the Champions Cup final. In the quarter-final and semi-final, they defeated South African opposition at the Aviva Stadium. In the last round, they defeated the Stormers 20-11. Leinster came out flying and got to a 13-0 lead within the first 24 minutes. Sam Prendergast scored eight of those points from the tee. The Stormers scored just before halftime, and scored a penalty to bring it to a 13-11 scoreline. With just over 10 minutes to go Ruan Ackermann was sent off for a shoulder charge to the head in a ruck. Gibson-Park took advantage a minute later and scored to seal the game 20-11.
Bulls (Away team):
| Result | Date | Competition | Opponent | Score |
| Won | 6th June 2026 | URC Playoffs | Glasgow Warriors | 21-22 |
| Won | 30th May 2026 | URC Playoffs | Munster | 45-14 |
| Won | 16th May 2026 | URC | Benetton | 45-19 |
| Won | 9th May 2026 | URC | Zebre | 54-19 |
| Won | 25th April 2026 | URC | Scarlets | 21-23 |
The Bulls have won their last eight URC games in a row, and in that run, they have only lost to Glasgow, whom they were able to beat 22-21 away in the URC semi-final. After 25 minutes, they found themselves 21-3 down. For the remainder of the match, they limited the Glasgow Warriors so they didn’t score a point. The South Africans would score three tries with Handre Pollard kicking two of the conversions to put them one point ahead with 25 minutes to go. The Bulls were able to hold out for the remainder of the match.
Leinster vs Bulls head-to-head record (last five matches):
| Date | Competition | Winner | Score |
| 4th October 2025 | URC | Bulls | 39-31 |
| 14th June 2025 | URC Final | Leinster | 32-7 |
| 22nd March 2025 | URC | Bulls | 21-20 |
| 15th June 2024 | URC | Bulls | 25-20 |
| 29th March 2024 | URC | Leinster | 47-14 |
These teams have met eight times since the South African sides joined European competitions. The Bulls have won five of these games, including the 2024 semi-final. They also won the semi-final in 2022, which was the only time either side has won away from home. Leinster put in a dominant display last year in the final, winning 32-7, scoring four tries and only conceding one.
