5 Things You Missed: URC Grand Final - Leinster 36-7 Bulls - Prendergast shines as Lowe signs off

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Sam Prendergast led from the front with a tremendous try-scoring contribution, along with tries from Tommy O'Brien, Reiko Ioane, Jack Conan and Harry Bryne.

The Bulls found themselves a man down after just a minute on the clock, as Canan Moodie stuck out his hand for a deliberate knock-on. Leinster immediately capitalised on the extra man advantage, as Tommy O'Brien raced away to score the opening try after just five minutes. A spilled pass gifted O'Brien the ball, with only open grass between the Ireland international and the try-line.

The Dubliners had all the momentum in the first half, and bagged their second score after 15 minutes. Quick thinking from Jamison Gibson-Park shipped a quick line-out to Sam Prendergast, who then found Hugo Keenan for the line-break. The full-back found Reiko Ioane's supporting line, with the All Black able to finish the counter-attack for a stunning break-away score. Bulls full-back Willie le Roux then took a trip to the sin-bin, following another deliberate knock-on from the visitors.

Leinster added to their first-half lead through Jack Conan, who had an earlier than expected introduction to the match off the bench. With Caelan Doris removed after a sixth minute injury, Conan stepped up in the skipper's absence, and wrestled his way over the line from close range. Sam Prendergast would add a penalty and two well struck conversions to the tally, for a dominant half-time score that read 22-0.

It took just six minutes for Leinster to re-start the try-scoring, with the man of the hour Sam Prendergast on hand to bag a score of his own with a dive from close range. Prendergast converted his own try for a neat seven-point contribution, to establish a healthy 29-0 lead. However, the Bulls would finally break their deadlock at 62 minutes, as Canan Moodie exploded onto a crash ball line with Leinster caught unawares. The conversion from Handre Pollard added the extras, as murmurs of a comeback arose.

The Bulls rallied back through Ruan Nortje's try five minutes later, with an incredible off-load at the heart of the build-up play. However, said offload was adjudged forward in the TMO review, which chalked off the score. Replacement fly half Harry Byrne took up where Prendergast left off, as he dove between the posts for Leinster final try, before adding his own conversion. In the end, Leinster's first half dominance proved too powerful, as the Irish heavyweights become the first back-to-back champions of the URC era.

TRIES: 5 (O'Brien 6', Ioane 15', Conan 27', Prendergast 46', Byrne 76')

CONVERSIONS: 4 (Prendergast 6', 27', 46', Byrne 77')

PENALTIES: 1 (Prendergast 32')

DROP GOALS: 0

YELLOW CARDS: 1 (Lowe 59')

RED CARDS: 0

15. Hugo Keenan, 14. Tommy O’Brien, 13. Rieko Ioane, 12. Jamie Osborne, 11. James Lowe, 10. Sam Prendergast, 9. Jamison Gibson-Park; 1. Jerry Cahir, 2. Rónan Kelleher, 3. Tadhg Furlong, 4. Joe McCarthy, 5. James Ryan, 6. Max Deegan, 7. Josh van der Flier, 8. Caelan Doris (c).

Replacements: 16. Dan Sheehan, 17. Alex Usanov, 18. Thomas Clarkson, 19. Diarmuid Mangan, 20. Jack Conan, 21. Luke McGrath, 22. Harry Byrne, 23. Garry Ringrose.

TRIES: 1 (Moodie 62')

CONVERSIONS: 1 (Pollard 62')

PENALTIES: 0

DROP GOALS: 0

YELLOW CARDS: 2 (Moodie 1', Le Roux 25')

RED CARDS: 0

15. Willie le Roux, 14. Kurt-Lee Arendse, 13. Canan Moodie, 12. Harold Vorster, 11. Stravino Jacobs, 10. Handre Pollard, 9. Embrose Papier; 1. Gerhard Steenekamp, 2. Johan Grobbelaar, 3. Francois Klopper, 4. Ruan Vermaak, 5. Ruan Nortje, 6. Marcell Coetzee (c), 7. Elrigh Louw, 8. Cameron Hanekom.

Replacements: 16. Marco van Staden, 17. Jan-Hendrik Wessels, 18. Wilco Louw, 19. Cobus Wiese, 20. Jeandre Rudolph, 21. Zak Burger, 22. Stedman Gans, 23. Nizaam Carr.

It's the outcome that the Irish capital was hoping for, as Leinster make history by becoming the first team in United Rugby Championship history to successfully retain the trophy known as 'beastie'. After the yet again agonising heart-break of nthe Champions Cup defeat to Bordeaux-Begles, Leinster had little over a month to channel their sole focus into winning the league title and make history in the process.

Leinster were the dominant force from the opening whistle in Dublin, with the hosts on hand to pin back the much-fancied Bulls who travelled to Ireland armed to the teeth with Springbok stars. However, after the Bulls had reached their own personal Everest of the incredible comeback win over Glasgow Warriors a fortnight ago, you would think that the men from Pretoria had reached their emotional peak for the 2025/26 URC season.

Whilst the Grand Final was by no means the close contest that the neutrals and pundits alike had anticipated, there was no taking away from the superb Leinster performance. Since the PRO14 expanded to include the South African sides for the 2021/22 season, Leinster have become the first team in history to successfully keep the URC trophy in their grabs.

With the inaugural Nations Championship creeping in over the horizon, the United Rugby Championship Grand Final acted like the perfect pre-courser to the upcoming Summer of international fixtures. The Bulls brought a stackecd squad of Springboks up to Dublin, with 11 South African internationals on hand for the match day 23 at Croke Park.

Leinster fought fire with fire, and parried the star-studded Bulls squad with their own match day squad of international stars. Amongst the experienced talents, there was no denying that Sam Prendergast was one of the in-form men from the URC Grand Final, with the Ireland fly half clicking back towards his top gear ahead of three weeks on tour in the green jersey. With Jack Crowley unpicked for the Nations Championship tour of Australia and New Zealand with an injury, Prendergast will be the go-to out-half for Andy Farrell, for the clashes against Japan, the Wallabies and All Blacks.

Prendergast was tremendous against the Bulls, with some resolute defensive efforts silencing his long-standing critics. The desire to track back and put his head beneath the boots to deny a first half try was a highlight of the final, as was his inch-perfect spiral bomb kicks, and how he unleashed Hugo Keenan in the build up to Reiko Ioane's try.

Prendergast capped this off with a 46th minute score, with an 'out-the-back' pass to Jamie Osborne halted close to the whitewash, before the fly half dove over the line. Prendergast continues to build personal momentum ahead of his return to the international stage, with a dutifully deserved Player of the Match Award from the URC Grand Final.

There was a definitive lift in the decibels, when the stadium announcer read out James Lowe's name mid-way through the Leinster team announcements. The extra applause came with good reason, as this match marked the end of the road for Lowe in Leinster blue, with the Ireland international set to depart Dublin after contract negotiations reportedly fell through.

With Lowe and Leinster unable to come to terms for a new deal, the New Zealand born star will head out to the land of the rising sun, with a transfer confirmed with Tokyo Sungoliath in the Japan Rugby League One. This move comes at an opportune time for the Japanese capital city club, who have just parted ways with Springboks wing Cheslin Kolbe - who returns to South Africa following a move to the Stormers.

Lowe marked his farewell tour break in the first minute, with the Leinster fans savouring every second of their departing wing with a roar upon every touch of the ball. Lowe got a nice ovation after nailing a thumping kick to touch, as the Leinster fans will miss his revered left boot.

Lowe was just denied a farewell try at the 18th minute, as he was muscled into touch by the Bulls defenders. The soon to be Sungoliath wing as a finger-tip away from an intercept try at 58 minutes, yet the wing fumbled the ball forward. This was adjudged as a deliberate forward pass by the referee as Lowe took a trip to the bin upon his final Leinster outing. Andrea Piardi became the most unpopular man in Croke Park, as Lowe took a brief trip to the side-lines.

There was plenty of pre-match focus upon the front row, with Ireland stalwart loose-head prop Andrew Porter ruled out of the match with an untimely calf injury. The front row was depleted without the long serving Leinster man, with Jerry Cahir on hand to start, in what was only the seventh run-out in the XV for the 25-year-old. Whilst Porter was out of the fray, Dan Sheehan was named on the bench following a last ditch return from injury for the first-choice hooker.

Coming into the match, there was no secret that the Bulls would look to utilise their formidable scrum to dominate the Leinster pack. With the likes of Springboks stars Gerard Steenekamp and Johan Grobbelaar in the front row, the Pretoria side were expected to had the upper hand at the set-piece.

The scrum battle was an interesting one throughout the 80-minutes of action, with the old adage of 'a game of two halves' certainly apparent from the set-piece. The scrum started off rather level, and despite the pre-match expectations of Bulls dominance, it was Leinster's Furlong, Kelleher and Cahir who held their own against the steel of the Springboks stars.

The second half saw the scrum effort dip slightly from a Leinster perspective, however the damage had already been done over the try-line for this to have any numerical impact. The scrum penalties were sent down to touch, with Handre Pollard realizing that his three-pointers would do little to dent the 29-0 deficit. The replacement Leinster front row succumbed to the Bulls' 'bomb squad', with the experienced Dan Sheehan not up to his usual scratch, and Alex Usanov and Tom Clarkson also pack-peddled by the Bulls.

Whilst 99% of Leinster's dominant first half performance went exactly to script for the delighted Dubliners, the hosts would have preferred not to loose their captain Caelan Doris after just six minutes of the URC Grand Final. The number eight was caught inbetween two Bulls defenders, who chopped low at the knee of the Ireland captain, and prompted the withdrawl after just a sextet of minutes had surpassed.

However, Jack Conan was on hand to step up in the injury absence of his Leinster and Ireland skipper, with the replacement back row putting in a tremendous shift from the bench. There is simply no phasing the hard-work and down-right grit of Conan at full-flight, as the back row battled for every inch of Croke Park turf upon both sides of the ball. Conan capped off his final with a well-taken first half try, as he fought tooth and nail to get across the whitewash from close range.

Whilst the current extent of Caelan Doris' injury is as yet unknown, the speculation is that the Leinster man injured his foot in the carry into contact. When asked as to the extent of his injury, Doris confirmed that it was in fact his foot that "got the better of him" and forced the early exit, not his previous knee injury. When asked if this knock will deny Doris from going to Australia for the Nations Championship next week, the Ireland captain said "we'll see", with further assessment yet to come.

Andy Farrell would certainly not want to leave his captain behind for the upcoming Nations Championship tour of Australia and New Zealand this Smmer.