United Rugby Championship Final - Build-up to Leinster v Bulls
Update:
Date: 16:56 BST
Title: Post
Content: Leinster v Bulls (17:00 BST)
Simon ZeboFormer Munster and Ireland winger on Premier Sports
The weather conditions turn it into a territorial battle and a set-piece battle where I fancy the Bulls.
Update:
Date: 16:55 BST
Title: Post
Content: Leinster v Bulls (17:00 BST)
Mark StrangeBBC Sport NI at Croke Park
Leo the Lion has just led a thunder clap around Croke Park and the atmosphere is crackling!
The weather certainly hasn't dampened anyone's spirits.
Update:
Date: 16:54 BST
Title: 'Everyone loves to hate Leinster'
Content: Leinster v Bulls (17:00 BST)
Joe McCarthy says Leinster will be using perceived ill will as fuel in their quest for silverware today.
Leo Cullen's side beat last year's champions Glasgow Warriors 37-19 at Aviva Stadium last week to book their place at Croke Park this evening.
The Irish province have had a point to prove after being stunned at home by Northampton Saints in the Investec Champions Cup semi-finals as they aim to avoid a fourth consecutive season without a trophy.
"We know everyone loves to hate Leinster. That definitely drives us on," lock McCarthy told RTE after the Glasgow game.
"We've a great fanbase. We don't really care about the outside noise, what you guys [the media] or other people say."
Read more.
Update:
Date: 16:52 BST
Title: Post
Content: Leinster v Bulls (17:00 BST)
They must build them differently in Potchefstroom.
RG Snyman and Marcell Coetzee never overlapped at the Bulls but they hail from the same hometown in the north of South Africa.
Coetzee is well known to Irish rugby fans as well, of course, after spending five seasons with Ulster and starts at number eight for the visitors.
Update:
Date: 16:49 BST
Title: Familiar faces
Content: Leinster v Bulls (17:00 BST)
Two-time World Cup winner RG Snyman won the only club medal of his career when lifting this trophy with Munster two years ago, his association with the Bulls goes all the way back to his teenage years.
The 30-year-old lock, who starts on the bench this evening, represented the Bulls all the way up to Super Rugby level.
Update:
Date: 16:48 BST
Title: Post
Content: Leinster v Bulls (17:00 BST)
Mark StrangeBBC Sport NI at Croke Park
With just over fifteen minutes until kick off, the heavens have opened here at Croke Park again. It never stopped on the way down today but had cleared up briefly.
However, the grey skies have never gone away and the precipitation is going to play a big part in today's proceedings.
Update:
Date: 16:47 BST
Title: Final times in blue
Content: Leinster v Bulls (17:00 BST)
All Black Jordie Barrett's time with Leinster has been short and he'll be out to ensure the ending is sweet this evening.
The centre has frequently been brilliant for Leo Cullen's side but he'll certainly want some silverware to show for his efforts in the northern hemisphere.
Leinster will, of course, miss him next season, although his replacement isn't too bad either given his his All Black team-mate Rieko Ioane will be the next star set for a short stay in Dublin.
Fly-half Ross Byrne, who is on the bench, will also have his final game for Leinster this afternoon, although Cian Healy, their most-capped ever player, is not in the 23.
Update:
Date: 16:46 BST
Title: 'It's like playing a fully international side'
Content: Leinster v Bulls (17:00 BST)
Bulls head coach Jake White speaking on Premier Sports: "We can't be favourites...we're playing Ireland.
"I hear Luke McGrath is in now, he's got 231 games for Leinster, 19 Test matches. That's not a bad replacement to have when you lose your scrum-half.
"Add Slimani, Barrett and RG, it's like playing a fully international side.
"It goes without saying that they must be favourites to beat a provincial side today."
Update:
Date: 16:38 BST
Title: A reminder of those teams
Content: Leinster v Bulls (17:00 BST)
Leinster: J O'Brien; T O'Brien, Ringrose, Barrett, Lowe; Prendergast, McGrath; Porter, Sheehan, Clarkson, McCarthy, Ryan, Baird, Van der Flier, Conan (captain)
Replacements: Kelleher, Boyle, Slimani, Snyman, Deegan, Gunne, R Byrne, Osborne.
Bulls: Le Roux; Moodie, Kriel, Vorster, De Klerk; Goosen, Papier; Wessels, Grobbelaar, Louw, Wiese, Van Heerden, Van Staden, Nortje (captain), Coetzee.
Replacements: Van der Merwe, Tshakweni, Smith, Kiersten, Carr, Burger, Johannes, Williams.
Update:
Date: 16:34 BST
Title: Big blow for Leinster
Content: Leinster v Bulls (17:00 BST)
There's huge news out of the Leinster camp this morning with Jamison Gibson-Park ruled out of this Croke Park contest.
The scrum-half was named to start when the teams were announced on Friday but Luke McGrath will now wear the number nine jersey and Fintan Gunne on the bench.
Gibson-Park joins fellow British and Irish Lions Tadhg Furlong and Hugo Keenan on the sidelines just six days before Andy Farrell's side begin their tour by playing Argentina across the city in the Aviva Stadium.
Josh van der Flier and Garry Ringrose are back in the starting line-up, though.
We'll bring you those confirmed teams in just a moment.
Update:
Date: 16:30 BST
Title: Here we go!
Content: Leinster v Bulls (17:00 BST)
The United Rugby Championship all comes down to today with Leinster taking on Bulls in the final.
Leo Cullen's side have been the standard-setters all season, topping the table with only two defeats from their 18 regular-season games and then seeing off Scarlets and Glasgow in the play-offs.
Still, though, there's a sense that they've been off their game since their Investec Champions Cup defeat since by Northampton Saints last month.
The Bulls have proven to be tough opposition in the past too - can the Irish province seal a ninth league title this evening?
Stay with us to find out!
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
BreakingNews.ie
22 minutes ago
- BreakingNews.ie
Andy Farrell says Lions 'won't sugar-coat' defeat to Argentina
Andy Farrell demanded an improvement from his British and Irish Lions when they arrive in Australia after they slipped to a 28-24 defeat by Argentina in Dublin. The Lions lost their opening tour match for the first time since 1971 after their second-half fightback was overturned when Santiago Cordero finished the match-winning try in the 59th minute. Advertisement On Saturday they head Down Under before facing the Western Force a week later and Farrell is seeking an immediate response to the error-strewn display seen at a sold-out Aviva Stadium. Not the result we wanted, but a historic night in Dublin. Thank you to the incredible fans who came to see us tonight, and to all of you who tuned in to support us from around the world 🙏🦁 #Lions2025 — British & Irish Lions (@lionsofficial) June 20, 2025 'We made it a tough game. Congratulations to Argentina, they thoroughly deserved to win the match. I'm sure that's a big moment in Argentinean rugby history,' Farrell said. 'We had plenty of opportunities and we should have done better to convert them, but the whole story of the game is that we compounded too many errors. 'I wouldn't give familiarity as an excuse. We need to be better than that. The Lions are good players coming together. Advertisement 'We won't sugar-coat this. We need to be honest because if we're not honest, how do we gain trust with each other? 'Losing hurts, especially in this jersey. We need to find the solutions pretty quickly and be honest with ourselves because some good has to come from this. 'Of course we asked a lot of the players and maybe we put too much pressure on the side because it looked like we were a little disconnected at times. 'We'll review what we said we were going to do as a team. We need to make sure we get something positive from this because it's all about how we move forward. Advertisement 'Some players will be happy and some players won't and will be dying to get another chance out there. We've got to learn a lot of lessons from that. 'We want to see a better all round performance. There wasn't just one thing, it was the compounding of quite a few bits. 'The amount of balls that we threw blindly either on to the floor or to the opposition was a standout. 'The scraps on the floor always seemed to go to Argentina, so there was a bit more fight and hunger from them that we can't accept.' Advertisement Maro Itoje's first game as captain ended in defeat (Brian Lawless/PA) Maro Itoje criticised the Lions' accuracy as his first outing as captain ended in the tourists' first defeat to Argentina in eight matches.. 'It was a spectacular occasion. The fans gave us a glimpse of what to expect in Australia,' Itoje said. 'We gave ourselves numerous opportunities but we weren't accurate enough at times and weren't consistent enough in piling pressure on to Argentina.'
Daily Mail
4 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Footy spectator banned for two years for abusing referees and opposition players
A rugby league match between Darwin Brothers and Litchfield Bears was dramatically halted after a spectator launched a tirade at the referee and opposition players. The top-of-the-table NRL NT Round 8 clash was in full swing when tensions flared from the crowd at TRL Stadium. After Darwin Brothers scored to close the gap to 20-18, match officials were alerted to abusive comments coming from the hill behind the goalposts. The remarks were described as personal and targeted, aimed at both the referee and Litchfield players. The referee, who had flown in from Queensland for the game, immediately stopped play. With the clock reading 61:39, he informed both team captains of the situation. Security and match officials stepped in to calm the crowd and identify the individual involved. The game resumed after a seven-minute pause. Litchfield Bears responded with two late tries to eventually win the game 28-26. The incident overshadowed what had been an entertaining and hard-fought contest between two of the competition's best sides. The spectator, identified as a Brothers supporter, has now received a 30-month ban from all rugby league activity. The 30-month ban is one of the harshest handed down in NRL NT history. The penalty includes 12 months for referee abuse, 12 for abuse of opposition players and six for bringing the game into disrepute. NRL NT operations manager Sheron McDougall said the suspension sends a clear message. 'It's a timely reminder to all clubs and participants that we need to be mindful this is a sport and we have a responsibility to abide by the code of conduct,' she told News Corp. 'We're drawing a line in the sand, it won't be tolerated. 'We hope these matters can be solved without a game being paused but the referee is well within their right to do so and we support that.' The game's governing body backed the referee's decision to stop play. NRL NT general manager Tony Crowe said the match official acted correctly. 'We 100 per cent support the referee's decision to pause the match,' he said. 'We've all come here to enjoy rugby league, not listen to some individual that thinks their opinion is above everyone else's.' Darwin Brothers president John Adams also condemned the incident. 'Our club doesn't condone any sort of abuse, verbal or otherwise, towards the officials,' he said. In a separate case, a Katherine spectator has also been banned for 12 months. That penalty came after they used obscene language towards a junior referee and behaved in a way that discredited the game. McDougall said all sports were seeing similar problems and urged better behaviour. 'This is happening across all sports and we have to be mindful,' she said.
Reuters
5 hours ago
- Reuters
'Nearly a dream', Argentina's Contepomi basks in unique Lions win
DUBLIN, June 20 (Reuters) - Argentina coach Felipe Contepomi knew just how special and potentially unique Friday's victory over the British and Irish Lions was, having gone agonisingly close as a player two decades ago. Contepomi was captain when the sides last met before the Lions' 2005 tour of New Zealand, when the Pumas were a Johnny Wilkinson stoppage time penalty away from a first ever victory in the fixture. That game ended in a 25-25 draw, and Friday's contest was just Argentina's second shot at the Lions in almost a century. Their first six meetings were played during tours of Argentina when the Lions did not limit their itinerary to New Zealand, South Africa and Australia. Contepomi said they could not be sure when they would get the opportunity again. "It's kind of a one-off. It's an invitation game and the last time, it was 20 years ago, and we were just there and we couldn't beat them," Contepomi told a press conference. "Coming here 20 years later I think it's incredible. We don't know if we'll ever again be invited or not to play and definitely for everyone who's been involved this week it will be memorable." "It is special. I know how special it is for an Irish, a Scottish, a Welsh or an English player to be a Lion, and for us to play against the best of the best in these islands, it's nearly a dream." The former Argentina flyhalf, who knows British and Irish rugby well, having spent six seasons with Leinster and worked as a doctor during his time in Ireland, said he expected Australia to face a far more ferocious set of Lions next month. "We took a bit of an opportunity because I know they'll be much better in one month's time when they play Australia. They'll be an awesome team, because they have so much quality in there," he said.
