The pick of the Round 2 United Rugby Championship fixtures involves the teams who contested last season's final as the Bulls take on Leinster at Loftus on Saturday

Bulls v Leinster, Saturday 4th October, Pretoria, KO 18:30 (South African time)

Referee: Adam Jones (Wales)
Assistant referees: Sean Miller (South Africa), AJ Jacobs (South Africa)
TMO: Gianluca Gnecchi (Italy)

Weather Forecast – Pretoria 

Bulls:

The Bulls are looking to make it 2 wins from 2 as they prepare to lock horns with the side who beat them 32-7 in last season's final at Croke Park, Dublin.

The hosted the Ospreys at Loftus last week and they turned around a 26-19 half time deficit to come out on top 53-40. The Bulls scored 9 tries and conceded 6 and were 1 of 8 teams to take the maximum 5 points in Round 1. The margin of their victory was shy of the bookmakers main handicap line as the Bulls started the game at around -20.5.

In the 2024/25 regular season the Bulls finished second on the log with an overall record of 14 wins and 4 defeats and they were 8 points behind Leinster whom they beat 20-21 at Loftus but the boot was firmly on the other foot in the final.

After this the Bulls head off on tour to take on Ulster, Connacht and Glasgow Warriors.

In the outright betting to win the URC title the Bulls are the shortest price of the South African sides at 4/1 second favourites with Hollywoodbets

Leinster:

Leinster are 1 of 6 teams looking for their first log point and they also failed to get the scoreboard moving as they crashed 35-0 to the Stormers in Cape Town in Round 1. It was only 6-0 at half time but the Stormers ran in 4 second half tries to seal a bonus point win which made a mockery of the pre-match handicap which had seen Leinster start as 9.5 point favourites.

Leinster won 16 and lost 2 of their matches in the 2024/25 regular season, they pretty much had top spot wrapped after starting with 12 straight wins and went on to be crowned champions.

When visiting South Africa last season Leinster were far from full strength and they lost 21-20 to the Bulls at Loftus before edging out the Sharks 10-7 in Durban.

After this Leinster return home to take on the Sharks at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin in Round 3 before a derby clash with Munster at Croke Park.

In the outright betting to win the URC title Leinster remain 6/10 favourites with Hollywoodbets

Team News

Bulls: 15 Devon Williams, 14 Sebastian de Klerk, 13 David Kriel, 12 Harold Vorster, 11 Stravino Jacobs, 10 Keagan Johannes, 9 Embrose Papier, 8 JJ Theron, 7 Mpilo Gumede, 6 Marcell Coetzee, 5 JF van Heerden, 4 N JV Rensburg, 3 Mornay Smith, 2 Johann Grobbelaar, 1 Gerhard Steenekamp
Replacements: 16 Juann Else, 17 Alulutho Tshakweni, 18 Francois Klopper, 19 Sintu Manjezi, 20 Nama Xaba, 21 Zak Burger, 22 Stedman Gans, 23 Willie le Roux

Leinster: 15 Jimmy O’Brien, 14 Tommy O’Brien, 13 Hugh Cooney, 12 Robbie Henshaw, 11 Andrew Osborne, 10 Sam Prendergast, 9 Luke McGrath (c), 8 Max Deegan, 7 Will Connors, 6 Alex Soroka, 5 Ryan Baird, 4 Brian Deeny, 3 Thomas Clarkson, 2 Gus McCarthy, 1 Paddy McCarthy
Replacements: 16 John McKee, 17 Jack Boyle, 18 Rabah Slimani, 19 Diarmuid Mangan, 20 Scott Penny, 21 James Culhane, 22 Fintan Gunne, 23 Ciarán Frawley

The Betting,

Average early show

Bulls -9.5 points at 9/10

Leinster +9.5 points at 9/10

Note, odds quoted are available at the time of writing but are subject to change.

This Weeks Bets

Brent Graham's betting angle and plays for Week 6 of the Rugby Championship will be posted on this Blog.

Likewise we will use this blog for tips the second round of the URC.

Finally, all this week's rugby tips from members of the Goodforthegame community can be found on the weekly rugby thread on our brand new discussion forum. If you haven't done so already, register a forum account here.

Understanding Rugby Handicap Betting Rugby handicap betting is one of the most popular ways to wager on matches, especially when there is a strong favourite and the bookmakers want to even out the contest. Let’s break down what a handicap is, why it exists, how it works in practice, and what punters should look out for. Find out more