Wilco Louw one of three reasons Bulls can upset Leinster in URC final

The Bulls are outright underdogs for Saturday’s United Rugby Championship final against Leinster in Dublin (6pm SA time start) – but that doesn’t mean that Jake White’s team have no chance.

In fact, here are three factors that are actually in the Bulls’ favour to cause an almighty upset at Croke Park...

1 Andrea Piardi as the referee

At first, you might think that Italian official Andrea Piardi’s appointment as the final referee on Tuesday – his third title decider in a row – might work against the Bulls.

The 32-year-old was the man in charge in last season’s 21-16 victory for Glasgow Warriors at Loftus Versfeld – and Munster’s win over the Stormers in Cape Town in 2023 – and White was unhappy with some of his decisions.

“It’s twice in a row now where the referees (Piardi) let the away side win,” White said afterwards.

“In fact, it’s three times – last year, Munster won in Cape Town, Glasgow won in Munster, we won in Leinster, and this referee let the away team win. So maybe, next year I’ll ask when we play away, that I want him to try and ref us!”

So, while match officials try to be objective, there is no doubt that the home crowd does have an influence in a match as big as a final.

Normally the hosts would be on the right side of a few tight calls, but it seems it’s the opposite with Piardi.

White’s words about last year’s final defeat will surely be in the Italian’s head, and he will be keen to ensure that it’s a fair contest and that Leinster aren’t getting any undue rewards.

2 Props with a point to prove

Bulls props Jan-Hendrik Wessels and Wilco Louw have been sensational this season.

Louw has been so good that most SA fans – perhaps even a few Stormers ones – voiced their displeasure with Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu being chosen as the SA URC Player of the Season last week instead of the Bulls No 3.

The giant tighthead has been a destructive presence in the scrums, and gets around the field as well with his carries and tackles to emerge as the clear front-runner to start for the Springboks in 2025.

Wessels hasn’t been far behind, with his powerful surges around the fringes and outstanding work-rate on defence complementing his scrummaging work and versatility to fill in at hooker.

In contrast, Leinster are missing injured Irish tighthead stalwart Tadhg Furlong, while loosehead prop Andrew Porter infamously said two years ago that “It’s about getting that fifth star (Champions Cup titles) on the jersey. You don’t see many URC or PRO14s or whatever you have on the jersey”.

With Leinster having tripped up at the Champions Cup semi-final hurdle once more this season, how motivated will Porter be for the URC final?

3 Hunger for glory

The Bulls’ loss to Glasgow in front of a packed 50,000-plus crowd at Loftus Versfeld really hurt them.

They had roared into a 13-0 first-half lead, only to watch their advantage being whittled away by Franco Smith’s band of Warriors.

Bok World Cup-winning mentor Jake White even questioned himself and his approach in the aftermath, noting that “I myself lost a Super Rugby final against the Chiefs (with the Brumbies), lost a Rainbow Cup in Benetton, lost two URC finals...”

Despite not having a dynamic Bok wing Kurt-Lee Arendse available this time – as well as losing injured star No 8 Cameron Hanekom in the semi-final – the Bulls are undoubtedly a more well-rounded side this season.

They have produced some outstanding performances away from home, most notably beating Munster and Glasgow in Europe.

So, a packed Croke Park won’t be a daunting environment for this group of Bulls. They will also enjoy being the underdogs in Dublin, despite winning the 2022 and 2024 semi-finals against Leinster.

If they can avoid the unnecessary yellow cards from the semi-final and put their best foot forward, they have every chance of emerging victorious on Saturday – at long last putting to bed the defeats in the 2022 and 2024 finals.