URC Grand Final confirmed: Leinster v Bulls… fixture, date, kick-off time and how to watch

Leinster will host the Bulls at Croke Park on Friday, June 19, in the United Rugby Championship Grand Final.

Leo Cullen’s men secured their passage into the finale after defeating the Stormers 20-11 at the Aviva Stadium on Saturday and will now take the finale to the home of GAA on Friday week.

The URC confirmed that the fixture will be at Croke Park on the Friday evening due to venue availability, with the ground being the only suitable stadium available in the Dublin and Leinster area that weekend.

The Aviva Stadium, the venue where Leinster defeated the Lions and Stormers en route to the final, is unavailable due to a Metallica gig, while GAA HQ is reserved for matches on Saturday and Sunday.

Leinster to host Bulls at Croke Park

Leinster finished second overall on the log after the regular season, and after recovering from their Investec Champions Cup defeat to Bordeaux in Bilbao, they made light work of the Lions in their first knockout match and then beat another South African club in the Stormers to progress to the showpiece event.

There they will face the Bulls, who are still chasing their maiden title after losing to the Stormers, Glasgow and Leinster in 2022, 2024 and 2025, respectively. Those losses come under former director of rugby Jake White and the men from Pretoria will hope that Johan Ackermann has the finishing touches this time around.

Ackermann has experience of the biggest matches having led the Lions to back-to-back Super Rugby finals in 2016 and 2017, but the Joburgers fell short on both occasions.

The Bulls defeated Munster in their quarter-final before stunningly beating the Glasgow Warriors 22-21 in the semi-final at Murrayfield on Saturday afternoon.

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Meanwhile, Leinster will be bidding to become the first club to win the URC multiple times, a feat yet to be achieved since the South African teams joined the competition.

Having won the Celtic League/PRO12/14 on eight occasions, the Irish giants finally broke their URC duck last season after finishing top of the table and beating the Scarlets, Glasgow Warriors and the Bulls en route to lifting the trophy, winning all of their knockout matches in Dublin.

The Grand Final will be live on Premier Sports in the UK and Ireland, with SuperSport screening the game in South Africa.

United Rugby Championship Final

Leinster vs Vodacom Bulls
Date: Friday, June 19
Venue: Croke Park (Dublin)
Kick-off: 19:30 (local Dublin), 19:30 (UK), 20:30 (France), 20:30 (South Africa), 04:30 (20 June, AEST), 06:30 (20 June, New Zealand), 15:30 (Argentina), 03:30 (20 June, JST), 14:30 (EDT)
Live on: Premier Sports, SuperSport, Flo Rugby & URC.tv

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