URC 2025/26 · Semi-Final
Glasgow Warriors
Bulls
Scottish Gas Murrayfield, Edinburgh
Championship Standings
This is the URC playoff seeding, not a league round — Glasgow finished top of the 16-team table with 65 points (13W-5L, +141) to earn home advantage throughout the knockouts, while the Bulls claimed the fourth seed on 59 points (12W-6L, +160). It's a 1st-v-4th semi-final, and although the home venue has shifted to Murrayfield with Scotstoun being upgraded for the Commonwealth Games, the home-draw edge is Glasgow's reward for topping the standings. The Bulls' points difference was actually marginally better, underlining how little separated the top four.
| Pos | Team | P | W | L | PD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Glasgow Warriors | 18 | 13 | 5 | +141 | 65 |
| 2 |  Leinster | 18 | 12 | 6 | +145 | 63 |
| 3 |  Stormers | 18 | 12 | 5 | +160 | 60 |
| 4 | Bulls | 18 | 12 | 6 | +160 | 59 |
| 5 |  Munster | 18 | 11 | 7 | +20 | 55 |
| 6 |  Cardiff | 18 | 11 | 7 | −19 | 55 |
| 7 |  Lions | 18 | 10 | 7 | +59 | 54 |
| 8 |  Connacht | 18 | 10 | 8 | +47 | 54 |
| 9 |  Ulster | 18 | 9 | 8 | +74 | 52 |
| 10 |  Sharks | 18 | 8 | 9 | +39 | 46 |
| 11 |  Ospreys | 18 | 7 | 9 | −78 | 39 |
| 12 |  Edinburgh | 18 | 7 | 11 | −77 | 38 |
| 13 |  Benetton | 18 | 6 | 10 | −166 | 33 |
| 14 |  Scarlets | 18 | 4 | 12 | −99 | 28 |
| 15 |  Dragons | 18 | 3 | 11 | −131 | 28 |
| 16 |  Zebre Parma | 18 | 2 | 16 | −275 | 15 |
Glasgow Warriors
W4, L1Glasgow recovered from a wobble — back-to-back South African maulings at the Lions (54–12) and Stormers (48–12) and a Champions Cup exit to Toulon — to close the campaign hard. They dismantled Cardiff 40–17, ground out a 26–22 win at Ulster, and then handled Connacht 33–21 in the quarter-final to reach the last four. The defining theme remains travel: every heavy defeat came on the road, and this knockout is on home soil.
Bulls
W4, L1The Bulls go into the semi on a five-match winning streak, scoring 214 points and conceding just 80 across it. They blew Munster away 45–14 at Loftus in the quarter-final, having earlier racked up 54 on Zebre and 47 on the Dragons. The caveat is that four of those five wins were at home or against the weaker sides — but Coetzee's men are red-hot, finishing fourth despite the best attacking record of the top four, and they arrive in Scotland with genuine momentum.
Head-to-Head Record
4 – 0 – 3
Glasgow wins · Draws · Bulls wins (last 7 meetings)
Glasgow Warriors (4)These two have become regular sparring partners, and Glasgow have the upper hand this season — they won both 2025/26 meetings, a 21–12 URC win at Scotstoun in October and a 25–21 Champions Cup pool victory in April. The wider record is tighter: the Bulls won 26–19 at Scotstoun in April 2025 and 40–34 at Loftus in May 2024. The defining meeting, though, came in the 2024 URC final, when Glasgow beat the Bulls 21–16 at Loftus to lift the title — the Bulls' third URC final defeat in a row, and a wound they'll be desperate to avenge.
Recent Results
| Date | Competition | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Apr 2026 | Champions Cup | Glasgow Warriors 25–21 Bulls |
| Oct 2025 | URC | Glasgow Warriors 21–12 Bulls |
| Apr 2025 | URC | Glasgow Warriors 19–26 Bulls |
| Jun 2024 | URC Final | Bulls 16–21 Glasgow Warriors |
| May 2024 | URC | Bulls 40–34 Glasgow Warriors |
| Oct 2022 | URC | Glasgow Warriors 35–21 Bulls |
Average score in the last 6 meetings: Glasgow have won both meetings this season by a combined 13 points, and crucially beat the Bulls 21–16 in the 2024 URC final. The Bulls' two wins in the run were both high-scoring shootouts — when this fixture opens up, it favours Pretoria; when it tightens, it favours Glasgow.
Extended Form
Glasgow Warriors16W, 6L
URC: 1st with 65 points (13W-5L, +141), beating Connacht 33–21 in the quarter-final. Champions Cup: reached the QF (beat Saracens 28–3, the Bulls 25–21, won at Clermont 33–21 and Sale 26–21, beat Toulouse 28–21) before a 22–19 home loss to Toulon. Recent URC: beat Leinster 38–17, Munster 31–22, Cardiff 40–17, won at Ulster 26–22; heavy away losses at the Lions (54–12) and Stormers (48–12).
Glasgow have been the URC's most consistent side and reached a Champions Cup quarter-final — an elite season. The defining flaw is travel: their worst defeats all came in South Africa or on the road. None of that matters here, because the semi-final is in Scotland — and at the larger Murrayfield, not the cramped Scotstoun the Bulls might have feared.
Bulls16W, 7L
URC: 4th with 59 points (12W-6L, +160), thrashing Munster 45–14 in the quarter-final at Loftus. Champions Cup: pool stage exit. Recent form: five straight wins by an aggregate 214–80, including 54–19 v Zebre and 45–19 v Benetton. Beat Leinster 39–31 at Loftus in October.
The Bulls have rediscovered their best rugby at exactly the right time, and coach Coetzee has credited the long-haul travel for refocusing the group. They carry a fearsome Springbok-laden pack — Steenekamp, Grobbelaar, Wilco Louw, Nortje — and a backline featuring Pollard, Le Roux, Arendse and Moodie. On their day they are the most dangerous attacking side left in the competition.
Glasgow Warriors XV
Predicted side ahead of Franco Smith's official Friday announcement. Scott Cummings anchors the second row and the McDowall–Tuipulotu centre pairing is retained despite Huw Jones returning to fitness from a foot problem, with Jones expected on the bench. The big call is at scrum-half: George Horne picked up a hand injury against Connacht and is a slight doubt, with Jamie Dobie — close to a return himself — providing cover. Kyle Steyn captains from the wing.
Bulls XV
The Bulls name a full-strength, Springbok-laden side for the semi-final. Captain Marcell Coetzee returns from illness to a loose trio alongside Cameron Hanekom and Elrigh Louw, and Marco van Staden drops to a 6-2 bench split. Handré Pollard steers from fly-half behind Embrose Papier, with a lethal back three of Willie le Roux, Kurt-Lee Arendse and Stravino Jacobs, and Canan Moodie at outside centre. No altitude factor at sea-level Murrayfield, and Coetzee has said the long-haul travel actually helped the group refocus.
Key Matchups
This is a genuine heavyweight collision, and the Bulls hold the physical edge up front — a Springbok front row of Steenekamp, Grobbelaar and Wilco Louw, plus Nortje at lock, is the most powerful set-piece unit left in the tournament. Pollard's game management and goal-kicking give the Bulls a knockout-rugby weapon Glasgow can't quite match, and Arendse and Le Roux are world-class finishers. Glasgow's path is tempo and width: Horne's sniping, Lancaster's flat distribution and Tuipulotu's carrying have to drag the Bulls' big men around the park before they tire, and the home crowd is a real factor. If it becomes a set-piece arm-wrestle, the Bulls win it; if Glasgow can make it fast and loose, their record against this opponent says they can edge it again.
Match Forecast
The scorecard nets out at zero — this is the genuine coin-flip of the semi-finals. The Bulls have the more powerful pack, the bigger names, and the hotter attacking form, having won five in a row by an aggregate 214–80. But Glasgow have two things that tilt it their way: home advantage as the top seed, and a head-to-head edge that includes both 2025/26 meetings and, most painfully for the Bulls, the 2024 URC final. When this fixture tightens into a low-scoring knockout, Glasgow have repeatedly found a way.
The danger is obvious: if the Bulls' set piece dominates and Pollard controls the territory game, they can squeeze Glasgow off the park exactly as they squeezed Munster 45–14. Glasgow's pack will be under severe pressure at scrum and lineout, and any lengthy spell of Bulls pressure could turn this into a procession. The flip side is that the Bulls have lost three URC finals and have a habit of falling just short away from Loftus — and Glasgow, at home, in a one-score arm-wrestle, are exactly the side to exploit that. Expect a tight, ferocious contest decided inside the final ten minutes.
A true coin-flip — but Glasgow's home draw and their hold over the Bulls (both wins this season, plus the 2024 final) makes them narrow favourites in a one-score semi.