Women’s All-Ireland League Final
Ul Bohemians v Old Belvedere
Portlaoise RFC, Saturday 1pm
By the time referee Daithi Flood calls time on the Women’s All-Ireland League final today at Portlaoise (kick-off 1pm), either UL Bohemians will have extended their record haul to 13 titles in a successful defence, or Old Belvedere will have wrestled back the trophy as four-time champions.
Reigning champions and convincing table-toppers Bohs registered 13 wins and 12 try-scoring bonus points to finish 10 points clear of second-placed Railway Union, who were knocked out by Old Belvedere 10-7 in last weekend’s semi-finals. UL reached another decider with a 58-8 hammering of depleted Cooke, aided by two tries each from Nicole Cronin, Ireland captain Ciara Griffin and Laura Sheehan.
Cronin and Niamh Briggs control matters behind a well-drilled Limerick pack which is marshalled by captain Fiona Hayes, consistently-excellent hooker Gillian Bourke and Griffin. Both clubs had new coaches to get used to this season – Sean Fitzpatrick at UL and Josh Brown at Belvo – and loosehead prop Hayes, who skippered Bohs to a league and cup double last year, is quietly confident about keeping the league silverware in Munster.
“We’re expecting a big game against Old Belvo. We’ve played them the last three years in a row [in finals], it’s going to be a very physical game,” she said. “We both pride ourselves on our set piece and it’s going to be seen dominantly, I think, in the game, but also we’ve both got expansive back-lines. So I think it’s going to be a good mixture there.
Upsetting
“It’s a big deal for us to defend the title. The year before last, we lost to them by two points (19-17) and it was very, very upsetting. We’ve played them twice this season and it’s one [home] win apiece. To defend it and bring it back to Limerick is going to be something special for us, because as a team, we always say that that AIL Cup belongs down here in Munster.”
Brown’s Belvo side took their time to settle – losing three of their first six league games – but with current and former Ireland internationals of the calibre of Nora Stapleton, Sene Naoupu, Elise O’Byrne White, Sharon Lynch and the retiring Sophie Spence to the fore, the Dublin 4 club have won their last nine league matches, including that battle-hardening semi-final defeat of Railway.
Impressive new winger Ailbhe Dowling ran in an intercept try and outhalf Stapleton, so many times a match winner for Belvo when they were three in-a-row champions (2013/14 to 2015/16), slotting the decisive penalty.
Belvedere tighthead and captain Fiona O’Brien said: “These are the weeks you want to be involved in. We’re really looking forward to it, it’s our fifth year in a row [challenging for the title] and after losing it last year, we’re looking to get it back. Bohs are formidable opposition and they’ve been the form side in the league this year. They have a strong squad and we know what they’ll bring, so it’s up to us to bring our game, knowing how they play too.
“There’s a really dedicated group of girls who have been around for a few years now, and they’ve really been looking after the club. I think that’s why Old Belvedere have been so successful in continually producing top-class players.”
Tomorrow’s showpiece day for the women’s domestic game in Portlaoise also includes the All-Ireland League promotion play-off final between Tralee and a Paula Fitzpatrick-inspired St Mary’s, kicking off at 12.30pm on the second pitch. The winners will replace Tullamore in the eight-team league next season.
