Stormers boss reveals which areas will be crucial for Leinster and Bulls in URC final
Leinster lock Joe McCarthy in action against the Bulls and Stormers director of rugby John Dobson (inset).
Stormers director of rugby John Dobson has highlighted which areas will be crucial when Leinster host the Bulls in the United Rugby Championship (URC) final on Friday, June 19.
Leinster and the Bulls are set to face off at Croke Park in Dublin in a repeat of last year’s URC final which the Irish province won 32-7.
Fourth final for the Bulls
The Bulls will be desperate for victory as they are no strangers to the URC‘s marquee match, but they are yet to be crowned champions in the competition after also losing in previous finals to the Stormers (2022) and Glasgow Warriors (2024).
The men from Pretoria reached this year’s final courtesy of a stunning 22-21 comeback triumph over the Warriors at Murrayfield, while Leinster sealed a hard-fought 20-11 win over the Stormers in the other semi-final at the Aviva Stadium.
And Dobson identified both teams’ various strengths to the final, which should have an impact on the end result.
“I’d say that Leinster’s attack has the opportunity,” he said. “I thought we defended very well — not trying to be arrogant about it, because we did a lot of defending — and you know, if you look at that game, if rugby’s about a team that attacks, Leinster thoroughly deserved to win this game.
“So, I think that the Leinster attack is going to put the Bulls under pressure. We have a pretty powerful scrum, and I thought we had the edge.
“The Bulls’ scrum is also good, so Leinster will have to handle that. I don’t know if the injury to (Andrew) Porter is serious.”
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Reflected on Stormers’ campaign
Dobson also reflected on what could have been for his team after they finished the league phase of the URC in third position in the standings after relinquishing top spot in the final rounds.
A round 15 defeat at home against Connacht ultimately cost them top spot in the table and although they bounced back in style with an emphatic win over Glasgow in Cape Town the following week, a draw against Ulster and another loss to Cardiff meant they had to settle for third place which meant they had to travel to Dublin for their semi-final with Leinster.
“If it were not for that disappointing loss at home to Connacht, where I think there is a general understanding of the circumstances surrounding that game (the emotion in the Stormers camp after the death of long-time team manager Chippie Solomon), and missing those log points against Ulster and Cardiff, we would have played Leinster at home,” added Dobson.
“After what we saw in this game, that would have been a lot more useful, playing Leinster in Cape Town.”