Nine defeats in eleven trips
Leinster have won the last two United Rugby Championship titles. South Africa has still not become a comfortable place for them. Since the league took its current URC shape, the Irish province have played 11 matches there and lost nine. The two wins were a 39-36 success at the Lions in April 2023 and a 10-7 grind against the Sharks in March 2025.
Their last visit, in September 2025, went badly: a 35-0 hammering at the Stormers, then a 39-31 defeat at the Bulls. They recovered to retain the title, beating the Lions twice in Dublin in May before home wins over the Stormers and the Bulls in the knockout rounds.
The new season opens with a return to Johannesburg. Leinster face the Lions at Ellis Park on Saturday, then travel to Durban for a date with the Sharks on October 3.
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Nienaber has done his homework
Jacques Nienaber, the 2023 World Cup-winning coach now serving as Leinster’s senior coach, is back on home soil this week and did not play down the size of the task. The Lions lost 31-7 and 59-10 in Dublin last season, but he pointed to the rest of their campaign. Ivan van Rooyen’s side won eight of nine home games, the last six in a row, and reached the play-offs for the first time.
“If you statistically look at them, especially from an attacking point of view, and you look at last season, they were the team that had the most offloads; they scored the most tries in the competition,” Nienaber said. He added that a South African team has reached every one of the last five URC grand finals, and called Ellis Park “a ground that they really put their heart and their soul into defending.”
The Lions also ran the All Blacks close in August, losing 41-35 only after a late score.
A deeper squad this time
Last September, Leinster travelled without the players Andy Farrell had taken on the British and Irish Lions tour. This trip looks very different. The squad of 41 includes plenty of Ireland regulars and nine academy players, with the team for Saturday due on Thursday.
Nienaber described the tour as a chance to pass on “what Leinster is about” to the younger group. The results in South Africa in recent seasons suggest the older heads need the lesson just as much.
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