| Event | 2024–25 United Rugby Championship | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Date | 14 June 2025, 17:00 BST (UTC+1) | ||||||
| Venue | Croke Park,Dublin | ||||||
| Man of the Match |  Ryan Baird | ||||||
| Attendance | 46,127 | ||||||
←2024 2026 → | |||||||
The2025 United Rugby Championship Grand Final was the final match of the2024–25 United Rugby Championship (URC) season. It was contested atCroke Park,Dublin by Ireland'sLeinster, with home field advantage, and the visitingBulls fromPretoria,South Africa.[1] It was the third successive cross-continental final in the competition.
The final was held in Ireland for the first time since 2021 and the reconfiguration of theUnited Rugby Championship, with a third appearance for the Bulls following their defeats in2022 and2024, and a first appearance for Leinster since the competition adopted its current format, but a record 11th final appearance in total (winning in2002,2013,2014,2018,2019,2020 and2021, and losing in2010,2011,2012 and2016).[2] Bulls have previously appeared in, and won, three finals (2007,2009 and2010) in theSuper Rugby competition, and lost in the final of the transitional seasonPro14 Rainbow Cup.[3]
For the first time in this format, the top-seeded team at the start of the play-offs has reached the final. Neither side has yet won the United Rugby Championship in its current format, but Leinster attempted to win a record-extending ninth overall title in all formats of the competition; the Bulls attempted to win their first title in this competition in their third final, to go with their threeSuper Rugby titles, and oneSuper Rugby Unlocked title won prior to 2021.
| Leinster | vs |  Bulls | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| League season - top eight | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Source:UnitedRugby.com | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Play-offs | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Opponent | Result | Play-offs | Opponent | Result | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 Scarlets (H) | 33–21 | Quarter-finals |  Edinburgh (H) | 37-19 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Glasgow Warriors (H) | 42–33 | Semi-finals | Sharks (H) | 25–13 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Leinster and Bulls have met six times in the United Rugby Championship since 2021 with Bulls leading the rivalry four games to two. Bulls have won both previous play-off matches between the sides, the semi-finals in 2022 and 2024. Bulls also won the solitary regular season match between the teams this year by a single point.
| Date | Home | Score | Away | Stage | Venue | Crowd |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 22 March 2025 | Bulls | 21–20 | Leinster | Regular season | Loftus Versfeld Stadium | 15,299 |
| 15 June 2024 | Bulls | 25–20 | Leinster | Semi-final | Loftus Versfeld Stadium | 31,578 |
| 29 March 2024 | Leinster | 47–14 | Bulls | Regular season | RDS Arena | 16,982 |
| 22 April 2023 | Bulls | 62–7 | Leinster | Regular season | Loftus Versfeld Stadium | 5,500 |
| 10 June 2022 | Leinster | 26–27 | Bulls | Semi-final | RDS Arena | 11,565 |
| 25 September 2021 | Leinster | 31–3 | Bulls | Regular season | Aviva Stadium | 19,419 |
Matches in yellow in URC Playoffs
With Leinster reaching the final from the first seeding, they maintained home advantage throughout the playoffs and elected to play the final inCroke Park,Dublin,[5] having already played one URC fixture (against Munster) and one European Champions Cup fixture there this season.[6] Although this will be tenth final played in aDublin stadium in the entire history of the competition, the final will come toCroke Park for the first time.
Leinster have a perfect competitive record at the ground, winning four times in four visits. This will be the first visit of a South African club side to the venue; the Springboks lost to Ireland in the only previous rugby union match involving both nations at the stadium.[5]
For the first time since it became the United Rugby Championship, the highest seeded team made the final, and faced the second seed, as all six knockout matches were won by the team with home advantage.Leinster hosted theBulls inCroke Park, the first URC final to be held outsideSouth Africa, and the first appearance of Leinster in a final since the format began. Bulls reached a record third final. Both teams needed their first URC title, although it would be Leinster's ninth total championship in all formats of the competition. and their twelfth play-off Grand Final. This final was the first between the two teams.
In their previous meeting this season, inRound 13, Bulls inflicted the first defeat of the season across all competitions on Leinster, 21–20 inPretoria. In all previous URC meetings going back to 2021, Bulls lead Leinster four wins to two, including both previous play-off meetings.
In the final, Leinster proved much too strong for the Bulls in wet conditions, racing to a 19–0 lead at half time. A Bulls try early in the second half briefly raised hopes of a comeback, but Leinster saw out a dominant win with a further try and two penalties, confirming a 32–7 win for their ninth championship in total. The Bulls were consigned to a third URC final defeat in four years.
| 14 June 2025 | Leinster | 32–7 | Bulls | Croke Park,Dublin | |
| Try:Jack Conan, 6' Jordie Barrett, 14' Josh van der Flier, 23' Fintan Gunne, 73' Con:Sam Prendergast, 7', 14' Ross Byrne, 74' Pen: Prendergast, 45', 68' | Try:Akker van der Merwe, 51' Con:Johan Goosen, 51' | Attendance: 46,127 Referee:  Andrea Piardi[7] |
Both teams were announced on the morning of June 12 2025. Both teams opted for a five-three split on the bench (five forwards, three backs as replacements).[8] Jake White made one change to the Bulls team to face Leinster, withMarco van Staden replacing the injuredCameron Hanekom.Josh van der Flier andGarry Ringrose return for Leinster, butHugo Keenan andTadgh Furlong fail to recover from previous injuries, while Leinster club captainCaelan Doris is a long term injury absentee.Jack Conan deputises as captain. The final will also beAll BlackJordie Barrett's final game for Leinster before returning to New Zealand.
On the morning of the final, Leinster's first choice scrum-halfJamison Gibson-Park was ruled out by late injury. Luke McGrath came into the starting XV, with Fintan Gunne coming onto the bench.
Man of the Match:Ryan Baird Assistant referees:Mike Adamson;Sam Grove-White |
The match was shown live bySuperSport in South Africa, byPremier Sports in the United Kingdom and byTG4 in Ireland. Flo Rugby & URC.tv carried coverage elsewhere.[10]
