Warriors stun Munster to set up URC final against Bulls

The Bulls will host a United Rugby Championship final for the first time when they take on Glasgow Warriors in Pretoria next week.

Jake White’s charges claimed a 25-20 semi-final victory over a star-studded Leinster outfit that went down swinging at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday in front of a crowd of almost 32,000, and the venue is expected to be filled to capacity for the 2023-24 URC decider on 22 June.

In the second semi-final on Saturday, Glasgow converted a 7-3 half-time lead against Munster in Limerick into a 17-10 win to book a place in the finale, and set up a titanic rematch with the Bulls at Loftus where they had lost earlier in the league stage.

Warriors captain Kyle Steyn’s opportunistic 23rd-minute try came when teammate Richie Gray was in the bin while Matt Fagerson also saw yellow but the visitors still led at the break, with Munster’s response coming from a lone Jack Crowley penalty.

Despite having 63% possession and 71% territory during the first half, a try eluded the defending champions and they fell further behind when Sebastian Cancelliere surged over in the 50th minute to help make it 14-3.

Antoine Frisch pulled back seven points with a converted try, but the hosts had Alex Nankivell red carded and George Horne’s resulting 74th-minute penalty kick proved enough for the Scottish side.

This story was first published on sarugbymag.co.za. It is republished here with permission.