IT
ENThere’s a script the Bulls just can’t change. A fourth United Rugby Championship final in the South African era, a fourth defeat: at Croke Park, Leinster won 36-7 and put away a title worth double, because it’s the first back-to-back in the tournament’s history.
Leo Cullen’s side gave them no way out. They shaped the final within half an hour and then managed it, turning every opponent’s error into points. For Johan Ackermann’s South Africans, once again, the final step remained the hardest to climb.
A final decided in the first half
The match goes downhill almost immediately. In the 2nd minute Canan Moodie is sin-binned for a deliberate knock-on and, with a man advantage, Leinster strike: in the 6th a misplaced pass from the Bulls’ defensive fly-half lands at the feet of Tommy O’Brien, who kicks, chases and touches down between the posts.
Ten minutes later comes the second: a quick throw from Jamison Gibson-Park, an inside pass from Sam Prendergast, full-back Hugo Keenan beats his man and feeds Rieko Ioane, who finishes in the corner. In the 26th the Bulls’ second yellow — Willie le Roux, the same offence as Moodie — opens the way to the third try, Jack Conan’s from close range. Prendergast adds a penalty and it’s 22-0 at the break.
Prendergast MVP, but it’s a collective win
In the second half it’s the fly-half who virtually seals it: a try from open play while Piardi plays advantage, his own conversion and 29-0. At the final whistle the man-of-the-match award goes to him, Sam Prendergast.
And yet, according to DanPat, it was above all a win of the system: a solid Leinster in which no one shone spectacularly, against a Bulls in which no one truly dug deep. In the running for best on the pitch, Gibson-Park or Jamie Osborne could also have fitted.
The Bulls’ relationship with finals is very complicated.
The Bulls’ too many errors
The telling stat is another: the Bulls had something to hold on to and didn’t use it. At the set scrum the South African pack, with Gerhard Steenekamp and Francois Klopper up front, at times had good dominance. But around that platform everything was missing: too many balls lost, too much imprecision, the sense of a team that eliminated itself before even being beaten.
The only spark comes in the 62nd, when Moodie himself makes up for the early yellow by driving over the line after a maul, with Handré Pollard converting. Too little and too late: late on, Harry Byrne, on for Prendergast, scores under the posts for the final 36-7.
Why people talk of a Bulls «curse»
Because it’s a fact, not a figure of speech. Since entering the URC the Bulls have reached four finals in five seasons (2022, 2024, 2025 and 2026) and lost them all, to which you add the 2021 Rainbow Cup final lost to Benetton. On the other side, Leinster celebrate the tenth league title of their history and become the first team to win two editions in a row in the URC era.
So a long season comes to a close. And while the clubs go on holiday, the calendar already turns towards the national teams: the Under-20 World Championship in Georgia and Italy’s summer tour in the Nations Championship.
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