Bulls stick with tried and tested as they chase history in URC grand final against Leinster

Ackermann’s selection is deliberate. No experiments, no risks, no sentiment. Instead, he has leaned fully into experience, pedigree, and proven winners, a spine built on players who have felt the heat of Test rugby and survived it.

From Willie le Roux at fullback, orchestrating and anticipating, to Kurt-Lee Arendse and Canan Moodie out wide, the Bulls have strike power that can punish even the smallest lapse. Inside them, Harold Vorster provides the directness, the hard edge, the ability to win collisions that matter in a final.

But it is at halfback where the selection truly reveals its intent. Handre Pollard starts at flyhalf. He brings territory, scoreboard pressure, and composure. The Bulls are backing the man who has built a career on making the right decision when everything is on the line. Around him, Embrose Papier provides tempo, but it is clear where the control will sit: firmly in Pollard’s hands.

Meanwhile, Gerhard Steenekamp, Johan Grobbelaar and Francois Klopper form a front row built on scrummaging solidity. Behind them, Ruan Nortje and Ruan Vermaak bring steel and work rate, players who understand that finals are won in the unseen exchanges.

It is difficult to assemble a more combative loose trio than captain Marcell Coetzee, Elrigh Louw and Cameron Hanekom. Coetzee leads not through words, but through actions that accumulate: tackle after tackle, ruck after ruck. Louw brings carrying power, Hanekom brings dynamism.

On the bench, players like Marco van Staden and Wilco Louw ensure that when the game tightens - and it will - the Bulls can increase the intensity. Zak Burger and Stedman Gans make up the 6-2 split.

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

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.