Leinster should be mightily relieved that the Vodacom URC Grand Final is this year being played nearly two weeks after the semifinal round. After their bruising clash with the DHL Stormers, they are going to need time to lick some physical wounds and assess their injuries, prop Andrew Porter for one, before going again.
Had they run into the physical Vodacom Bulls in the decider just a matter of days after an at times brutal clash with the Stormers, they might have been sore and ripe for the picking. Instead, they have time to recover and prepare before the Bulls arrive at the AVIVA on Friday week, 19 June.
RASSIE MAY BE HAPPY THERE’S NO BRUTAL NORTH/SOUTH DERBY FINAL
That game is, of course, being played the night before the Springboks kick off their 2026 campaign by hosting the Barbarians in Gqeberha. Which cues another thought - Rassie Erasmus should have had two reasons to feel relieved that the Stormers didn’t follow through on what 12 minutes from time they had set themselves up so well to do against Leinster.
The Grand Final is Locked In 🤩🔐@leinsterrugby vs Vodacom @BlueBullsRugby @Vodacom #URC | #REPRESENT pic.twitter.com/sv4HwajZOf
— Vodacom United Rugby Championship (URC) (@URCOfficial_RSA) June 6, 2026
When replacement forward Ruan Ackermann produced the mindless act that saw him get a yellow card that was upgraded to a red, it wasn’t long after the Stormers captain Ruhan Nel had set up the Stormers in Leinster territory and with Leinster looking like the physicality of their opponents was taking its toll, the game was there for the taking for the Cape side.
The Ackermann card and then the later one to Salmaan Moerat, a ridiculous one in comparison to the obvious red that Ackermann deserved, effectively cost the Stormers the game - and saved Erasmus the anxiousness of having to watch a South African derby final praying there are no injuries on the same day as his team plays its first game (a Cape Town final would have been on the Saturday).
Statement Victory Secured.🙌🔥
— Vodacom United Rugby Championship (URC) (@URCOfficial_RSA) June 6, 2026
Leinster take it after a commanding performance from start to finish. 💙🏉
Watch all the Semi-Final drama, LIVE on SuperSport ⚡️@Vodacom #URC | #LEIvSTO pic.twitter.com/6Zx47Z7RQo
The north/south derbies between the Stormers and Bulls are always one level up on other games when it comes to physicality. They can at times be brutal. And they almost never go off without there being some cost to one team or both in terms of injury. Two weeks before the Boks’ first test of the year against England in Johannesburg, that would not have been what the doctor, in this case Doctor Erasmus, ordered.
The second reason Erasmus might be relieved it is not an all-SA final is the obvious one - he has more players to work with in camp building up to the Barbarians game.
COMPETITIVENESS IN AWAY KNOCK-OUTS SHOWS GROWTH
On the flip side, had a Cape Town final materialised, it would have fittingly showcased the growth that the SA club/franchise game has undergone this season. Well, okay, not the Sharks, but generally the URC season has been a positive one for this country’s rugby, and that would have been overwhelmingly so had the Stormers got across the line as winners in Dublin.
Osborne to Ioane, only 1️⃣ outcome 🚀@Vodacom #URC | #LEIvSTO pic.twitter.com/R3Ec8Bujt4
— Vodacom United Rugby Championship (URC) (@URCOfficial_RSA) June 6, 2026
It would have been no less than they deserved after a league season where they did the front-running for much of the way, although their director of rugby, John Dobson, was right when he pinpointed the unexpected dropped points at home as the real reason his team aren’t in the final.
In particular he highlighted the game against Connacht, where there was also obviously the subtext of the emotion they experienced that week following the death of popular team manager Chippie Solomon, as one that ensured they had to travel to Dublin rather than host one of Leinster or Glasgow at the DHL Stadium.
On the evidence of both games at the weekend, the Stormers would have beaten either opponent at home (they thrashed Glasgow there 48-12 just a few weeks ago). Ultimately though, if Dobson looks at what would drive growth rather than just at the outcome, he might feel that in the long run, going toe to toe with Leinster in Dublin, even though they didn’t win, may have achieved more in terms of the development of his overall Project 2029 plan.
The Bulls too, by winning an away semifinal and coming from behind to do it, have added concrete to the foundations that they built in their home run at Loftus. Both the Stormers and Bulls were highly competitive and unlucky to lose when they were overseas against Toulon and Glasgow respectively in the round of 16 in the Investec Champions Cup, so both are starting to get to a point where they can compete on two fronts too.
Certainly if you can make Glasgow and Leinster uncomfortable on their home ground, and the Stormers did it with a team that was without two first-choice Bok halfbacks, their best wing and a few other quality players, then you have reached a point where you can start thinking about going much deeper in the Champions Cup than has been the case to this point.
TWO VERY SIMILAR GAMES
Both games in the Saturday double header were remarkably similar. Well, similar in the flow rather than the way they were played, for Glasgow certainly got in far more attacks than Leinster did. Glasgow dominated the first 20 minutes, Leinster dominated the first half hour. Then came momentum shifts and the SA teams became more physically imposing after that.
In both instances the SA teams went behind, although the Stormers’ defence was more stingy, for Leinster could certainly have been much further ahead than 10-0 at the end of the first quarter. The Bulls found themselves 21-3 down, and that is effectively what should be their major concern when they get to Dublin - they do have a far more passive defensive system than the Stormers do, and it was the Stormers’ line-speed and physical aggression in their defensive effort that was responsible for what, as the game wore on, became an error-ridden performance from Leinster.
And without being direct about it, Dobson’s answers to questions from the Irish media about how he thinks the final may go appeared to focus on where the Bulls will need to make a big change - the defence.
“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,” said Dobson.
“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.”
LEINSTER CAN EXPECT THE BULLS TO BE “SIMILAR”
When asked if the Bulls were more physical than the Stormers, Dobson stalled and did not give a direct answer. And rightly not if he was looking to be polite, for the reality is that while the public perception may often be different, the Stormers have beaten the Bulls twice this season because they systematically got on top in the physical battle.
But there isn’t much between them, and the Bulls, who have been bolstered since their Stormers derbies by the return from injury of Elrigh Louw and Cameron Hanekom, would have taken some pointers from what the Stormers did to rattle Leinster at a venue where they’ve never lost to a South African team (the Bulls’ 2022 semifinal win was at the RDS Arena). Dobson is expecting a close final.
“I think the final will be very close, much like this 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 1400 metres above sea level, so playing here 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.”
PRETORIA TEAM HAS FORWARD DEPTH
Where the Bulls could have an edge on Leinster is the forward depth on their bench, with the sight of players like Jan-Hendrik Wessels, Wilco Louw, Cobus Wiese and Marco van Staden sitting on the side ready to come on later surely giving Bulls fans some hope even when their team was under the cosh early on at Murrayfield.
Ironically, it was backline replacement Stedman Gans who made the biggest impact when he came on, but the forwards provided the gear change. The addition of the likes of Ackermann and Moerat from the bench was meant to do something similar for the Stormers, and it did, but the plan was killed when both players were carded.
Vodacom URC semi-final results
Glasgow Warriors 21 Vodacom Bulls 22
Leinster 20 DHL Stormers 11