John Dobson gives an 'informed' opinion on URC Final
The stage is set for another epic United Rugby Championship Final, when Leinster and the Bulls go head-to-head at Dublin’s Croke Park next Friday, June 19.
It will be the Trans-Hemisphere competition’s fifth Grand Final, a rematch of last year’s decider, which Leinster won convincingly 32-7.
One person who can have an informed opinion about the potential outcome of the battle in the iconic 82,000-seater venue is Stormers Director of Rugby John Dobson.
The Stormers faced both teams twice this year.
They lost (11-20) to Leinster in this past weekend’s semifinal in Dublin and beat a depleted Leinster selection 35-0 in a Round One fixture in Cape Town back in September.
Dobson’s charges have swept the boards against the Bulls in two brutal derbies, winning 13-8 against the Bulls in Cape Town in early January and humbling the men from Pretoria (32-19) in the return fixture at Loftus Versfeld in March.
It puts the Stormers boss in a prime position to assess the strengths and weaknesses of the two antagonists.
Dobson said the Final will be a ‘good game’, every bit as tense and intriguing as their semifinal loss to Leinster was.
(WATCH as Stormers Director of Rugby John Dobson gives his ‘informed’ take on the potential outcome of the URC Final face-off between Leinster and the Bulls…..)
“Leinster’s attack has an opportunity,” the Stormers DoR said, adding: “We defended very well [in the semifinal] and we did a lot of it.
“The game is about team and attack, and Leinster thoroughly deserved to win this [semifinal] game.”
He also had a warning for the Bulls about their defence.
“The Leinster attack will put the Bulls under pressure,” he added.
“We have a pretty powerful scrum and got the edge today [this past Saturday].
“The Bulls also have a good scrum, and Leinster will have to handle that,” questioning the injury that saw star Ireland prop Andrew Porter leave the field at the end of the first quarter,
Dobson said the outcome would be ‘similar’ to the semifinal arm-wrestle, without predicting an eventual winner.
Leinster and the Bulls secured their places in the URC Grand Final after two stellar semifinals in Edinburgh and Dublin this past weekend.
Leinster will defend their title against a Bulls side appearing in their fourth Final in five years.
As the highest-ranked team in the Final, Leinster (ranked No.2) will have home advantage and, for the first time in the league’s history, the game will take place on a Friday night.
Due to venue availability, Croke Park is the only suitable stadium available in the Dublin and Leinster area that weekend.
@JanDKrugby
@rugby365com
