Leinster, holders and record nine-time United Rugby Championship (URC) winners, will host the Stormers in Dublin for this weekend’s semi-final [1, 2]. Leinster lost last month’s Champions Cup final to Bordeaux-Begles and are seeking URC success to make up for that defeat. Ireland lock James Ryan said, "It is something we’ll revisit at the right time, but we were a little bit off in Bilbao, and it’s just about making sure that we’re at our very best now this week to hopefully put ourselves in a position to get into another final" [1].
Glasgow Warriors, the 2024 URC champions and top-ranked team in the regular season, will face the Bulls in the other semi-final [1, 2]. Glasgow moved their home semi-final match from Scotstoun Stadium to Murrayfield in Edinburgh due to stadium modifications for the upcoming Commonwealth Games athletics events [1, 2]. Glasgow attack coach Nigel Carolan said, "Plan A when you play the Bulls is it's going to be a man test and there's no shirking that. If you don't match it, you're in trouble. They bring a tremendous amount of physicality" [1].
The Bulls have lost twice away to Glasgow this season, first in the October URC at Scotstoun Stadium, then 25-21 in the April European Champions Cup last 16 tie [1, 2]. Bulls coach Johan Ackermann said, "Glasgow defend very well. So our patience with the ball will have to improve. But it’s two quality sides, so the margins will be so small" [1]. The Bulls have just over a 50% away win rate in the URC, the best among South African teams in the competition [1, 2].
Glasgow face a potential crisis at scrum-half after George Horne injured his hand. Jamie Dobie has also been out since mid-February with a shoulder injury sustained playing for Scotland against England [1, 2].
Stormers traveled to Dublin without flyhalf Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu due to an ankle injury [1, 2].
The URC semi-finals take place the weekend of June 4, with Leinster hosting Stormers in Dublin and Glasgow hosting Bulls at Murrayfield in Edinburgh [1, 2]. If Glasgow win, they retain home advantage for the URC final scheduled for June 20 [1, 2].