Sharks v Leinster preview

UNITED RUGBY CHAMPIONSHIP

Round 1

Scarlets 15-21 Cardiff Rugby

Munster 20-26 Glasgow Warriors

Zebre 13-47 Bulls

Sharks 41-24 Ospreys

Lions 27-26 Leinster

Benetton 19-19 Dragons

Connacht 15-29 Stormers

Ulster 29-34 Edinburgh

Round 2

Thu 2 Oct

Benetton v Connacht

Cardiff Rugby v Zebre

Edinburgh v Stormers

Fri 3 Oct

Lions v Ospreys

Dragons v Scarlets

Sharks v Leinster

Glasgow Warriors v Ulster

Munster v Bulls

OFFICIAL URC STATS & FACTS

The big picture

Defending champions Leinster travel to Durban after a narrow Round 1 defeat to 10bet Lions. Hollywoodbets Sharks began

with a home victory over Ospreys.

Match angles

• The home team on the day has won each of Sharks’ last ten URC fixtures.

• Sharks have lost just one of their last nine URC matches at Hollywoodbets Kings Park: 22-23 to Lions in January.

• Sharks have won their opening two games in only one previous URC season, in 2022.

• Leinster’s only victory in their last five URC away matches was 29-21 over Ulster in Round 15 last season.

• Leinster have won just once on their last nine trips to South Africa: 10-7 against Sharks in March 2025.

Form snapshot

Hollywoodbets Sharks last 6 URC: W-L-L-W-W-W

Leinster Rugby last 6 URC: W-W-W-W-W-L

Recent URC meetings

Leinster Rugby have won the last five meetings.

11 Oct 2025: Leinster Rugby 31 Hollywoodbets Sharks 5

29 Mar 2025: Hollywoodbets Sharks 7 Leinster Rugby 10

28 Oct 2023: Leinster Rugby 34 Hollywoodbets Sharks 13

Overall URC H2H

Hollywoodbets Sharks 1 win, Leinster Rugby 5 wins, 0 draws.

Key players in the URC this season

Hollywoodbets Sharks: Luan Giliomee scored two tries against Ospreys, while Vusi Moyo contributed 14 points.

Leinster Rugby: Fintan Gunne scored three tries against Lions, with Caspar Gabriel adding four points.

PREDICTION TIME

I can’t give a prediction without first addressing Leinster’s team announcement on Friday.

First of all, there was the confusion surrounding the announcement itself. For many, many years now, the page on the official website would present the matchday squad in a straight list format, starting with 15-9, then 1-8, and finally 16-23 all with both first and last names displayed.

This week, they did it differently…

…which instantly led to confusion surrounding number 20. That position is generally for a forward so it would make sense for it to be Diarmuid Mangan, but according to the travelling squad originally announced back on Sep 18, he wasn’t there so journos had to go chasing down confirmation of the name only to eventually learn…

So it turns out it was the other brother Ciarán, a back, after all.

When I first heard the team announcements were being made earlier this season, I was skeptical because I already wasn’t happy about last minute changes to the squad and this would only make them more likely. But now, I’m almost resorting to prayer in the hope that Leinster manage to pull a fit backrower from the bag. And it does raise question marks over Alex Soroka’s standing at the club given he was apparently playing AIL last weekend instead of being with the lads down south.

All of which means my predictions are conditional – if this matchday 23 stays the way it is, I can’t see us winning, especially with the Sharks stacking their squad with Springboks fresh off that chaotic defeat in Perth just a week earlier – my prediction would be a double-digit home win, 10-12pts. If instead we resolve the back row issue by Saturday evening, I honestly think we can win, if narrowly, so in that case I’d say 1-3.

Either way I really do think there’s a much bigger story under the surface, whether or not it will come out remains to be seen…

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