'It’s massive': Why Irish Grand Slam was so important for Jake White's Bulls

The Bulls’ win over Munster was a match of epic proportions, but April 25, 2025, is the red-letter day for Jake White and his troops.

The Bulls grind out a massive win in Limerick, beating Munster 16-13 in a United Rugby Championship clash.

They became the first South African side to beat Munster in Limerick and secured a clean sweep of the Irish teams, beating Ulster 47-21, Connacht 28-14, and Leinster 21-20.

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“It’s massive,” White told reporters after the match.

“Not just because we have beaten all four Irish teams, but also because I don’t think it has been done before – where one team has beaten all four in one season.

Fixture

United Rugby Championship

Munster

13 - 16

Full-time

Bulls

All Stats and Data

“It is also the first time that Munster has lost to a South African side at home.

“But more importantly, the way we played – I knew it would be an 80-minute slog and one of those games that goes to the wire.

“We really wanted to win this game, and this sort of momentum is especially important for next week.

“Therefore, from a confidence and log point of view, we are very happy.”

The Bulls were far from their best; however, their defensive resilience in the closing stages of the match proved to be the catalyst for the famous win in Ireland.

Locked at 13-all, replacement Keagan Johannes regained the lead for the Bulls in the 74th minute, before both fullback Devon Williams and Johannes kicked directly into touch, giving Munster line-outs inside the visitors’ half.

With the clock in the red, Munster never gave up, and the Bulls had to defend phase after phase before finally forcing a Munster handling error.

White praised his team’s defensive effort but called for his side to keep the intensity for the full 80 minutes as they fight to keep the pressure on the front-runners.

United Rugby Championship

P

W

L

D

PF

PA

PD

BP T

BP-7

BP

Total

1

Leinster

15

14

1

0

67

2

Glasgow

15

11

4

0

58

3

Bulls

15

11

4

0

54

4

Sharks

15

10

5

0

49

5

Benetton

15

8

6

1

41

6

Cardiff Rugby

15

7

7

1

41

7

Munster

15

7

8

0

40

8

Stormers

15

7

8

0

40

9

Scarlets

15

7

7

1

38

10

Ulster

15

7

8

0

37

11

Edinburgh

15

6

9

0

37

12

Connacht

15

5

10

0

35

13

Ospreys

15

6

8

1

33

14

Lions

15

6

9

0

31

15

Zebre

15

5

10

0

27

16

Dragons RFC

15

1

14

0

9

“We really wanted it more, and it took 84 minutes to keep the Munster team out,” said White.

“Teams don’t come here and win, because Munster don’t make it easy for you.

“They lost Craig Casey and Peter O’Mahony [due to illness] in the warm-up, and it shows you how good this club is, because we still had to play 84 minutes to get a win.”

He added: “It was probably the best defensive set we’ve had for a long time, especially the last block.

“We had to keep them out – and by not giving a penalty away, showing discipline – all the things that we spoke about.

“I don’t want to be negative, but in the past, we might have made one or two mistakes there and let ourselves down.

“We need to defend like that in the next month and a half against some really good teams.

“And we need to do it for 80 minutes, not just for four.”

Next up for the Bulls is a visit to Scotland, where they will be out to avenge last season’s Final defeat to the Glasgow Warriors.

The Bulls will face Glasgow Warriors, coached by Franco Smith, on Friday.

Glasgow are currently second on the URC table with 58 points, and the Bulls are third with 54 points.

“Nothing today would have changed the importance of next week’s game,” said White.

“I can tell you that after the last Final, everyone wrote on their wall ‘April 25, 2025.’ We always knew that the next time we played against them was going to be an opportunity for us to play as well as we can.

“It’s nice to go there with momentum and a sense of positivity, but I can promise you that from the day we started pre-season, April 25 was always going to be the game that we were going to go hard for.”