Vodafone Women’s Interpros: Round 1 – Munster v Ulster Preview

VODAFONE WOMEN’S INTERPROVINCIAL CHAMPIONSHIP – ROUND 1:

Saturday, August 10 –

MUNSTER v ULSTER, Virgin Media Park, kick-off 2.30pm (live on TG4/BBC iPlayer)

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Recent Interprovincial Form: Munster: WWWLL; Ulster: LLLLW

Last Five Meetings: 2019: Munster 38 Ulster 12, Musgrave Park; 3rd-4th Place Play-Off: Munster 39 Ulster 12, Energia Park; 2021: Ulster 5 Munster 50, Kingspan Stadium; 2023: Munster 34 Ulster 0, Musgrave Park; Ulster 14 Munster 41, Palace Grounds

Players To Watch Out For: Munster: Éilis Cahill – A powerhouse tighthead prop from Clare, Cahill is now stepping out of the shadows of the legendary Fiona Reidy who retired last season. The 22-year-old is tough to stop once she gets going, and scored two tries when Munster retained the title in January 2023.

Ulster: Vicky Irwin – Winning six Ireland caps between 2022 and 2023, Sale Sharks regular Irwin could prove a key player for Ulster across the campaign. Normally a centre or full-back, her versatility sees her start at out-half in Cork. When making her Ulster debut as an 18-year-old, she came off the bench and her first task was to tackle Fiona Hayes, the current Munster head coach.

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Pre-Match Views: Fiona Hayes (Munster head coach) – “We’re building off a lot from last year. Obviously there was disappointment with how we finished off the Interpros with two defeats, so when we came back in together, it was something that we addressed.

“Having the ability to stay in the four games, be able to play at that high level and be happy with our performances throughout the four games. So, that’s something we’ve been looking at. There was a lot built last year, this NTS (National Talent Squad) programme has been super.

“Niamh Briggs and co. had spotted the talent beforehand, and when we came in, there was a lovely group there together. Ulster gave us some battle last year, very hard to break down. They’re so well coached, and we’re very aware of the threats that they can bring.”

Fiona Tuite (Ulster second row) – “Munster are such a well-drilled team. The coaching staff they have are class, and their forward pack are so strong. But they’re missing a few key players there, and I think there’s a chance we might catch them on the hop this year which we’re excited for.

“We had that historic win against Connacht last year and that has kind of set the benchmark for us now. We’re not dipping below that. In our eyes and I hope everyone else’s eyes, we’re going in as third in this.

“This year then is when we push on to now challenge Leinster and Munster. But it’s such a competitive tournament, we love taking on the competition and having that name as underdogs isn’t a bad thing either.”

Kick Off The Season With the Vodafone Women’s Interprovincial Championship

Breen And Munster Primed For Interpros After ‘Big Two Months Of Build-Up’

‘Ending That Drought Has Given Us A Huge Boost’ – Hogan

Preview: Considering Munster have an average winning margin of almost 32 points from their last five encounters with Ulster, they should be quietly confident of making a winning start to the 2024/25 season.

However, they only have to look back twelve months to their 40-14 victory in Armagh which was much more hard-fought than the scoreline suggests. Maebh Clenaghan’s 55th-minute try had Ulster just 10 points behind, before the Reds pulled clear during the closing quarter.

Not letting Fiona Hayes’ side build scoreboard pressure is a must for the Ulster Women, who have forwards of the calibre of Ireland’s Fiona Tuite and Brittany Hogan, and front row prospects Sophie Barrett and India Daley, to try and quell Munster’s strengths up front.

Along with Dane who returns to competitive action for the first time in two years, Vicky Irwin is back for her first involvement in the Interpros since 2019. There are eight new caps in Murray Houston’s matchday 23, three of which are in a Lauren Farrell McCabe-led back-three.

For her first game in charge, Hayes have included five uncapped players on the bench, including promising Ireland Under-20 centre Lucia Linn. Back to full fitness for her first Interpro campaign since January 2023, Enya Breen starts in midfield alongside Stephanie Nunan.

Experienced dual international Eimear Considine also gives Munster a boost with her presence at full-back, having worked her way back from ACL surgery. Gloucester-Hartpury’s Siobhan McCarthy is another notable inclusion, as she last lined out for Munster three years ago.

The hosts look like they will have two much firepower again for Ulster, particularly if Ireland Under-20 out-half Kate Flannery can control matters and the space is created out wide for Chisom Ugwueru (pictured above), a prolific finisher in the Energia All-Ireland League.

Nonetheless, judging by their 36-14 play-off victory over Connacht on their most recent visit to Virgin Media Park, Ulster will be tough to beat. Houston has had them training three times a week, and there is a real focus on continuing to improve under the Scot and fellow coaches, Grace Davitt and Eric O’Sullivan.

Team News: This year’s Vodafone Women’s Interprovincial Championship will start exactly where it ended almost twelve months ago. There are mixed emotions for Munster and Ulster, looking back on last season’s finals day on Leeside.

This afternoon sees Ulster returning to Virgin Media Park, the scene of their first Interprovincial win in almost 11 years. Beth Cregan led by example with a try-scoring player-of-the-match performance in last September’s unforgettable 36-14 play-off victory over Connacht.

That was good enough for a third place finish in Houston’s first season at the helm. Cregan, who is currently teaching in Australia, leads the list of absentees for the new campaign, but Ireland scrum half Dane has taken up the captaincy reins.

The Enniskillen native links up at half-back with fellow international Irwin, who is another player back in the white jersey. Number 8 and vice-captain Hogan has spoken about the boost that the returning pair have provided.

Suttonians’ Farrell McCabe, the older sister of Ireland Sevens international Kate, features at full-back, with the wing berths filled by Enniskillen’s Sophie Meeke, and Lauren Patterson, who has won back-to-back Energia All-Ireland Junior Cup titles with MU Barnhall.

Peita McAlister forms a new centre partnership with talented Cooke teenager Tara O’Neill, while Old Belvedere and Ireland duo Hogan and Tuite (pictured above) lead an Ulster pack that also has a youthful look to it.

India Daley continues her development as a converted hooker, packing down between Gemma McCamley and Barrett. A training panellist for the 2024 Guinness Women’s Six Nations, the 23-year-old Daley was born in Tralee and started playing rugby there before her family moved to Enniskillen.

Promising tighthead Barrett will be hoping to continue her impressive form from her summer stint with the Ireland Under-20s, with Tuite and Suttonians stalwart Brenda Barr completing the province’s tight five.

The two Hills, Enniskillen’s Moya and Ballymena representative Christy, make their senior provincial bows in the back row, and Houston’s bench options include two more newcomers in Paige Smyth and Lucy Thompson, who are both Ireland Universities Sevens internationals.

Like both Daley and Barrett, young replacement hooker Clenaghan gained experience with the Celtic Challenge title-winning Wolfhounds squad last season.

Meanwhile, having guided UL Bohemian to an Energia All-Ireland League and Cup double, newly-appointed Munster head coach Hayes’ first selection is unsurprisingly dominated by Red Robins and well-oiled club combinations.

Blackrock College’s Breen, who previously played for the Limerick club, is the only non-UL player among Munster’s starting backs. Flannery and Muirne Wall will direct operations from half-back, with Flannery helping the Ireland U-20s to victory over Scotland most recently.

Breen and Nunan combine in the centre for the Reds, with Alana McInerney and Ugwueru joining Kilmihil native Considine (33) in the back-three.

This is Considine’s second comeback in successive seasons. Last year it was following the birth of her son Caolán, and this time it is after her recovery from an anterior cruciate knee injury which required an operation last October.

Fellow Clare woman McCarthy joins Éilis Cahill and Ireland U-20 starlet Beth Buttimer in the front row, and last season’s runners-up have plenty of athleticism and power in the second row and back row.

Newly-appointed captain Chloe Pearse packs down at number 8, and Clodagh O’Halloran, more known as a flanker, has her club-mate Claire Bennett alongside her in the engine room.

Replacements Emma Dunican, Ciara O’Dwyer, Ciara McLoughlin, Annakate Cournane, and teenager Linn, the former Dolphin and Bandon Grammar School player, are all in line to make their senior debuts for Munster.

MUNSTER: Eimear Considine (UL Bohemian RFC); Chisom Ugwueru (UL Bohemian RFC), Stephanie Nunan (UL Bohemian RFC), Enya Breen (Blackrock College RFC), Alana McInerney (UL Bohemian RFC); Kate Flannery (UL Bohemian RFC), Muirne Wall (UL Bohemian RFC); Siobhan McCarthy (Gloucester-Hartpury), Beth Buttimer (UL Bohemian RFC), Éilis Cahill (UL Bohemian RFC), Clodagh O’Halloran (UL Bohemian RFC) Claire Bennett (UL Bohemian RFC), Brianna Heylmann (UL Bohemian RFC), Jane Clohessy (UL Bohemian RFC), Chloe Pearse (UL Bohemian RFC) (capt).

Replacements: Emma Dunican (Tralee RFC), Ciara O’Dwyer (UL Bohemian RFC), Ciara McLoughlin (UL Bohemian RFC), Aoibhe O’Flynn (UL Bohemian RFC), Annakate Cournane (Shannon RFC), Abbie Salter-Townshend (UL Bohemian RFC), Lucia Linn (Loughborough Lightning), Maggie Boylan (Blackrock College RFC).

ULSTER: Lauren Farrell McCabe (Suttonians RFC); Sophie Meeke (Enniskillen RFC), Peita McAlister (Malone RFC), Tara O’Neill (Cooke RFC), Lauren Patterson (MU Barnhall RFC/Blackrock College RFC); Vicky Irwin (Sale Sharks), Kathryn Dane (Old Belvedere RFC) (capt); Gemma McCamley (Cooke RFC), India Daley (Enniskillen RFC/Blackrock College RFC), Sophie Barrett (Enniskillen RFC/Railway Union RFC), Brenda Barr (Suttonians RFC), Fiona Tuite (Old Belvedere RFC), Moya Hill (Enniskillen RFC), Christy Hill (Ballymena RFC), Brittany Hogan (Old Belvedere RFC).

Replacements: Maebh Clenaghan (Queen’s University Belfast RFC), Bronach Cassidy (Queen’s University Belfast RFC), Megan Brodie (Blackrock College RFC), Cara O’Kane (Cooke RFC), Stacey Sloan (Cooke RFC), Rachael McIlroy (Queen’s University Belfast RFC), Paige Smyth (Ballynahinch RFC), Lucy Thompson (Enniskillen RFC).

Referee: Cathal Roddy (IRFU)
Assistant Referees: Alex Aherne, Fionnuala Fay (both IRFU)