Who is playing, when and where?
Leinster are playing Bulls in the URC Grand Final on Friday at 7.30pm in Croke Park.
How can I watch it?
You can watch the final on Premier Sports, where coverage begins from 6.30pm. You can also follow live on The Irish Times live blog.
How did both teams get to the URC final?
Leinster finished second in the table behind Glasgow Warriors. They then defeated the Lions (59-10) and the Stormers (20-11) in the knockout stages and will look to make it a clean sweep of South African teams at home on Friday. The Bulls finished fourth in the table and dispatched Munster in Pretoria (45-14) before impressively beating Glasgow in Murrayfield (22-21). It is a repeat of last year’s final, when Leinster beat Bulls 32-7.
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Are there any tickets left?
Yes, there are plenty of tickets still available on Ticketmaster.
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Tickets range from €20 to €92 depending on where you are in the stadium, with Hill 16 just €20. Tickets are not expected to get close to selling out, which is a storyline in itself heading into the final, the decline of Leinster attendances has been evident. Only 9,493 and 15,346 attended the quarter-final and semi-final respectively. Gerry Thornley discusses this trend in his column.
What is the team news?
The teams were announced on Wednesday afternoon and are as follows...
LEINSTER: Hugo Keenan; Tommy O’Brien, Rieko Ioane, Jamie Osborne, James Lowe; Sam Prendergast, Jamison Gibson-Park; Jerry Cahir, Rónan Kelleher, Tadhg Furlong; Joe McCarthy, James Ryan; Max Deegan, Josh van der Flier, Caelan Doris (capt). Replacements: Dan Sheehan, Alex Usanov, Thomas Clarkson, Diarmuid Mangan, Jack Conan, Luke McGrath, Harry Byrne, Garry Ringrose.
BULLS: Willie le Roux, Kurt-Lee Arendse, Canan Moodie, Harold Vorster, Stravino Jacobs; Handre Pollard, Embrose Papier; Gerhard Steenekamp, Johan Grobbelaar, Francois Klopper; Ruan Vermaak, Ruan Nortje; Marcell Coetzee (capt), Elrigh Louw, Cameron Hanekom. Replacements: Marco van Staden, Jan-Hendrik Wessels, Wilco Louw, Cobus Wiese, Jeandre Rudolph, Zak Burger, Stedman Gans, Nizaam Carr.
What is Leinster’s chance of winning?
Leinster will be concerned about Porter’s injury as the Bulls have maybe the best scrum in the league, led by Springbok prop Wilco Louw. That will give the South African team hope and they have backs that can punish too in Pollard, Arendse and Willie le Roux. Leinster are 4-9 favourites for a reason though, playing in Dublin, and they have enough talent to end the season on a high after disappointment in the Champions Cup final.
Who will referee the match?
Andrea Piardi will take charge of the URC final for a remarkable fourth consecutive year.
