Munster 26 Leinster 17
Munster took a giant leap towards retaining the Vodafone Women’s Interprovincial Championship title thanks to a 26-17 bonus-point win over Leinster at Musgrave Park.
Replacement Stephanie Carroll’s last-minute try, set up by captain Nicole Cronin, moved Niamh Briggs’s side five points clear at the top of the table ahead of next Saturday’s final round trip to Connacht.
Jenny Murphy and Deirbhile Nic a Bháird ran in their third scores of the tournament in an explosive start in Cork, before prop Róisín Ormond’s 22nd-minute effort from close range handed Munster a 14-7 half-time lead.
Referee Andrew Fogarty may have opted to keep his yellow card in his pocket had he had the benefit of TMO assistance, but he deemed Murphy’s tackle on Aoife Corey to be late and sinbinned the Leinster centre just before the break.
Clodagh O’Halloran and Elise O’Byrne-White traded tries during a tit-for-tat third quarter, and Aoife Dalton capitalised on Maeve Óg O’Leary’s sinbinning to bring Leinster within four points.
Despite losing player-of-the-match O’Leary, Munster finished the stronger with replacement Ciara Farrell slicing through midfield before Carroll clinched a deserved victory via Cronin’s long skip pass.
SCORING SEQUENCE – 4 mins: Jenny Murphy try, Dannah O’Brien con, 0-7; 8: Deirbhile Nic a Bháird try, Nicole Cronin con, 7-7; 22: Róisín Ormond try, Cronin con, 14-7; Half-time: Munster 14 Leinster 7; 43: Clodagh O’Halloran try, Cronin con 19-7; 55: Elise O’Byrne-White try, 21-12; 75: Aoife Dalton try, 21-17; 80: Stephanie Carroll try, 26-17.
MUNSTER: Aoife Corey (UL Bohemian); Aoife Doyle (Railway Union), Stephanie Nunan (UL Bohemian), Rachel Allen (UL Bohemian), Alana McInerney (UL Bohemian); Nicole Cronin (UL Bohemian, capt), Muirne Wall (UL Bohemian); Róisín Ormond (Ballincollig), Kate Sheehan (UL Bohemian), Fiona Reidy (UL Bohemian); Clodagh O’Halloran (UL Bohemian), Claire Bennett (UL Bohemian); Dorothy Wall (Blackrock College), Maeve Óg O’Leary (Blackrock College), Deirbhile Nic a Bháird (Old Belvedere).
Replacements: Chloe Pearse (UL Bohemian) for K Sheehan (48 mins), Eilís Cahill (UL Bohemian) for Reidy, Kate Flannery (UL Bohemian) for Allen (both 65), Gillian Coombes (Ballincollig) for Bennett (71), Ciara Farrell (UL Bohemian) for Ormond, Stephanie Carroll (Railway Union) for Nunan (both 75). Not used: Sarah Garrett (UL Bohemian), Laura Sheehan (Exeter Chiefs).
LEINSTER: Ella Roberts (Wicklow); Elise O’Byrne-White (Dublin University/Old Belvedere), Aoife Dalton (Tullamore/Old Belvedere), Jenny Murphy (Old Belvedere), Anna Doyle (Tullow/Blackrock College); Dannah O’Brien (Tullow/Old Belvedere), Molly Scuffil-McCabe (Garda Westmanstown/Railway Union); Aoife Moore (Blackrock College), Jess Keating (Old Belvedere), Christy Haney (St Mary’s College/Blackrock College, co-capt); Aoife McDermott (Railway Union), Eimear Corri (Portlaoise/Blackrock College); Niamh O’Dowd (Old Belvedere), Molly Boyne (Dublin University/Railway Union), Hannah O’Connor (CYM Blackrock College, co-capt).
Replacements: Megan Collis (Greystones/Railway Union) for Moore (48 mins), Lisa Callan (Railway Union) for Keating (61), Ailsa Hughes (Tullamore/Railway Union) for O’Byrne-White (62), Elaine Anthony (Old Belvedere) for Corri, Vic Dabanovich O’Mahony (Old Belvedere) for Haney (both 67). Not used: Emma Murphy (Railway Union), Lisa Mullen (Virginia /Blackrock College), Niamh Byrne (Railway Union).
Referee: Andrew Fogarty (IRFU).
Ulster 19 Connacht 25
Clara Barrett celebrated her 19th birthday a little early with a brace of tries in Connacht’s 25-19 bonus-point win over Ulster in the Vodafone Women’s Interprovincial Championship.
Ireland Under-18 winger Barrett, who turns 19 next Thursday, scored in each half at a wet and windy Kingspan Stadium, with her 69th-minute score confirming Lyndon Jones’s side as deserved winners.
Connacht did the majority of the damage in the first half, building a 20-0 lead with Mayo natives Barrett, Ava Ryder and Emma Fabby all touching down with Nicole Foley kicking the other points.
Captain Beth Cregan led a determined response from Ulster, registering tries in the 45th and 55th minutes, before Fowley and Shannon Touhey combined to send Barrett over out wide.
Connacht had done enough to earn their first Interprovincial victory since the 2019/20 campaign, but Ulster did manage to salvage a late losing bonus point as Ella Durkan converted a Niamh Marley effort past the 80-minute mark.
SCORING SEQUENCE – 11 mins: Clara Barrett try, 0-5; 18: Ava Ryder try, 0-10; 28: Emma Fabby try, Nicole Fowley con, 0-17; 33: Fowley pen, 0-20; Half-time: Ulster 0 Connacht 20; 45: Beth Cregan try, 5-20; 55: Cregan try, Ella Durkan con, 12-20; 69: Barrett try, 12-25; 80+1: Niamh Marley try, Durkan con, 19-25.
ULSTER: Maeve Liston (Blackrock College); Fern Wilson (Queen’s University Belfast), Kelly McCormill (Cooke), Mya Alcorn (Blackrock College), Niamh Marley (Dungannon); Ella Durkan (Blackrock College), Rachael McIlroy (Queen’s University Belfast); Sadhbh McGrath (Cooke), Megan Simpson (Cooke), Ilse van Staden (Cooke); Keelin Brady (Railway Union), Brenda Barr (Suttonians); India Daley (Enniskillen), Beth Cregan (City of Derry/Blackrock College, capt), Sophie Barrett (Enniskillen).
Replacements used: Gemma McCamley (Cooke) for McGrath, Ava Fannin (Blackrock College) for Van Staden (both 30-53 mins), Emma Jordan (Malone)/Suttonians) for Alcorn (half-time), Helen McGhee (Cooke) for Barr, Fiona Tuite (Old Belvedere) for Daley (both 60), Amber Redmond (Suttonians) for McIlroy (65), Stacey Sloan (Cooke) for Simpson (71). Not used: Amanda Morton (Cooke).
CONNACHT: Mairéad Coyne (Galwegians); Ava Ryder (Railway Union), Orla Dixon (Galwegians), Shannon Touhey (Suttonians), Clara Barrett (UL Bohemian); Nicole Fowley (Galwegians), Mary Healy (Galwegians, capt); Grainne O’Loughlin (Railway Union), Lily Brady (UL Bohemian), Laura Feely (Blackrock College), Fiona Scally (Galwegians), Eva McCormack (UL Bohemian), Lisa-Marie Murphy (Galwegians), Emma Fabby (Railway Union), Grace Browne Moran (Galwegians).
Replacements: Sonia McDermott (Railway Union) for McCormack (47 mins), Kayla Waldron (Galwegians) for Murphy (49), Karly Tierney (Tuam/Oughterard) for Fabby (53), Emily Gavin (Galwegians) for O’Loughlin, Elizabeth McNicholas (Galwegians) for Brady (both 60), Olivia Haverty (Galwegians) for Healy, Niamh O’Grady (Galwegians) for McNicholas (both 62), Éabha Nic Dhonnacha (Tuam/Oughterard) for Ryder, McCormack for Browne Moran (both 74).
Referee: Robbie Jenkinson (IRFU).
