Leinster lock Ruth Campbell is tackled by Ulster's Abby Moyles and Ella Durkan at Energia Park last August ©INPHO/Leah Scholes
Almost twelve months on from their first win in nearly 11 years, it would be a huge achievement for Ulster to qualify for the Vodafone Women’s Interprovincial Championship final. The home crowd will certainly spur them on, but Leinster are favoured to progress.
Saturday, August 24 –
ULSTER (3rd) v LEINSTER (2nd), Kingspan Stadium, kick-off 4.45pm (live on the Spórt TG4 YouTube channel/BBC iPlayer/BBC Sport website)
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2024/25 Interprovincial Championship Top Scorers: Ulster – Points: India Daley, Lucy Thompson 10 each; Tries: India Daley, Lucy Thompson 2 each; Leinster – Points: Nikki Caughey 12; Tries: Aoife Dalton, Katie Whelan 2 each
Recent Interprovincial Form: Ulster: LLWLD; Leinster: WWWWL
Last Five Meetings: 2019: Ulster 5 Leinster 24, Palace Grounds; Semi-Final: Leinster 59 Ulster 3, Templeville Road; 2021: Leinster 57 Ulster 12, Energia Park; 2023: Ulster 0 Leinster 43, Queen’s University Upper Malone; Leinster 57 Ulster 5, Energia Park
Players To Watch Out For: Ulster: Abby Moyles – It is unusual to have both starting out-halves playing against their native province, but that is the case here, as Moyles makes her second successive start in Ulster’s number 10 jersey. The Trim native captained the Leinster Under-18s just two short years, and will come up against her good friend and former Navan team-mate, Jade Gaffney.
Leinster: Jemma Farrell – Farrell showed her quality with a fine conversion to draw Leinster back with three points of Munster last Saturday. This is her first start for the Blues after making her debut in round one. The 30-year-old was Old Belvedere’s Senior Player of the Year last season, and continues to have close ties with Banbridge RFC and Banbridge Academy, as a player and coach respectively.
Pre-Match Views: Sophie Barrett (Ulster prop) – “Starting the last two games has given me the opportunity to show what I can do, and I’m thankful I have got the chance to be a part of that starting squad.
“The physical and competitive nature of these matches has pushed our squad to elevate our game. The games have been very physical and competitive. As a collective, we are putting teams under pressure.
“With Leinster up next, I think everyone knows that they can be a dangerous side, so we have to bring the energy to the next level. The connection we have has grown so much, and that’ll help build the confidence when we get out on the pitch.
“Leinster are known to beat teams, and I think we will need to go out switched on from the start. We can’t let them get a lead on. I think if everyone does their job and does what we have done at training, the result will take care of itself.”
Nikki Caughey (Leinster out-half) – “Ulster are not ever a team to take lightly. They’ve built really well this season, they finished the last Interpros beating Connacht, finishing on a high.
“It looks like they’ve kind of hit the ground running coming into this year. I know they haven’t quite got the results, but they’ve had two really good performances (against Munster and Connacht).
“Especially that second half performance where a lot of teams might dip off, they seem to just pick up, and do a comeback. Definitely a team that we need to focus on and bring our best game to get over.
“You have to take positives from that game (against Munster last week). In attack there’s some really bright moments, a lot of line breaks, a lot of younger players doing a lot of things around the pitch that are really quite impressive.
“Just maybe working on our ball retention. We didn’t have the ball for a lot of the Munster game, but when we turned it over, it was a quick turnover and it was back putting pressure on ourselves again.
“I think if we can fix that and tidy that up, we can actually build a few more phases and have a bit of patience and come away with a few more scores. Hopefully not make it so tight.”
Preview: Tania Rosser’s Leinster team had 52 points to spare over Ulster when they met last season – they were 43-0 winners on their most recent visit to Belfast in January 2023 – but there is no danger of them taking Murray Houston’s side lightly in this rematch.
The Ulster Women have picked up four points so far, two of them thanks to a cracking finish against Connacht last Saturday. Ireland international Vicky Irwin, Lauren Patterson, and Megan Brodie are handed starts this week.
Leinster’s average winning margin from the last four meetings is 49 points, yet with just a seven-point reversal at the hands of current table toppers Munster, and a 14-point fight-back against Connacht, there is no doubt that their defence has improved a good deal.
With just a point separating these sides in the table, and a place in the final on the line, Ulster’s scrum and defence coach Eric O’Sullivan commented: “Throughout Leinster’s squad they are full of internationals playing at this level, so it’s a great challenge.
“We will learn a lot from it but as long as we can buy into an 80-minute performance , we will put them under a lot of pressure. I think we have shone that in the last two second halves that we are a great team, but we need to do it from the first whistle.
“Our bench has brought a great impact so fair play to them, as it’s hard to come in and try to change the tempo of the game. I’m still trying to figure it out as a player myself, ‘why you don’t start off the best at times?’
“Having clear messages from coaches, like myself, when we come on will help. I think we are doing really good stuff throughout the games.
“It’s about our ability to keep backing it up. Sometimes we can switch off after a few phases and that’s where we can be caught at times, but we are looking to improve on that.”
Robyn O’Connor and Gaffney are set for their first starts for Leinster, just a week on from their debuts during the second half in Cork. It is an all-midlands combination for the visitors, with Kilcavan native Leah Tarpey teaming up with an in-form Aoife Dalton.
Team News: Ulster head coach Houston has made three personnel changes, rewarding Armagh native Irwin for her impact off the bench last week. Her late levelling conversion earned a 25-all draw at home to Connacht.
For the second of Ulster’s three successive matches on home soil, Sale Sharks’ Irwin joins Catherine Martin, a new addition to the province’s squad this season, in the centre, with Tara O’Neill sidelined through injury.
MU Barnhall’s Lauren Patterson makes her second start of the campaign on the left wing, and Meath youngster Moyles will come up against some of her former Leinster U-18 team-mates, including Gaffney, her ex-half-back partner at club and province.
Brodie swaps in for Bronach Cassidy on the loosehead side of the scrum, while Ulster’s bench, which has had a big influence on their improved second half performances over the past fortnight, has some new additions.
Queen’s University lock Ellen Patterson gets her first call-up to the matchday 23, with Ireland Sevens international Lucinda Kinghan and Old Belvedere flyer Megan Edwards also brought in by Houston to strengthen the selection.
Meanwhile, Ireland flanker Aoife Wafer returns from injury to take her place on the Leinster bench. Ireland Under-20 pair Gaffney and O’Connor both start in the back-line, at scrum half and full-back respectively.
19-year-old Wexford native O’Connor joins Emma Tilly and Ella Roberts (pictured below) in the back-three, Farrell is handed her first Leinster start against her native province, and Tarpey comes in for her first start of the season at inside centre.
Captain Hannah O’Connor reverts to the number 8 position, with Wicklow’s Caoimhe Molloy now in the blindside flanker berth. As well as Wafer, head coach Rosser can call on some other exciting players off the bench.
Mullingar youngster Kelly Burke, an Ireland Under-20 international, is hoping to win her first Leinster cap in Belfast, while Ireland prop Niamh O’Dowd and former Ireland Sevens speedster Anna Doyle are on matchday duty for the first time this season.
Determined to get back to winning ways and advance to the Championship decider in the process, Rosser said: “Really enjoyed the young players that came on (to win their first caps) last week. I thought Robyn O’Connor did really, really well in the back-field.
“Jade Gaffney came on at scrum half and controlled the game well, she got some good passes away. Looking at Ulster now, hopefully we can put in a really good performance there.
“I think we need to focus on ourselves. We know Kathryn Dane and Brittany Hogan are really good players for Ulster. We know they’ll put up a real battle, but if we can stick to our structures, just be a little bit more patient, hopefully we can get a good performance.”
ULSTER: Lauren Farrell McCabe (Suttonians RFC); Lucy Thompson (Enniskillen RFC), Catherine Martin (Blackrock College RFC), Vicky Irwin (Sale Sharks), Lauren Patterson (MU Barnhall RFC/Blackrock College RFC); Abby Moyles (Blackrock College RFC), Kathryn Dane (Old Belvedere RFC) (capt); Megan Brodie (Blackrock College RFC), India Daley (Enniskillen RFC/Blackrock College RFC), Sophie Barrett (Enniskillen RFC/Railway Union RFC), Brenda Barr (Suttonians RFC), Cara O’Kane (Cooke RFC), Moya Hill (Enniskillen RFC), Maebh Clenaghan (Queen’s University Belfast RFC), Brittany Hogan (Old Belvedere RFC).
Replacements: Christy Hill (Ballymena RFC), Bronach Cassidy (Queen’s University Belfast RFC), Ava Fannin (Blackrock College RFC), Ellen Patterson (Queen’s University Belfast RFC), Stacey Sloan (Cooke RFC), Rachael McIlroy (Queen’s University Belfast RFC), Megan Edwards (Old Belvedere RFC), Lucinda Kinghan (Railway Union RFC).
LEINSTER: Robyn O’Connor (Wexford Wanderers RFC); Emma Tilly (MU Barnhall RFC/Old Belvedere RFC), Aoife Dalton (Tullamore RFC/Old Belvedere RFC), Leah Tarpey (Tullamore RFC/Railway Union RFC), Ella Roberts (Wicklow RFC); Jemma Farrell (Old Belvedere RFC), Jade Gaffney (Navan RFC/Old Belvedere RFC); Linda Djougang (Wanderers FC/Old Belvedere RFC), Sarah Delaney (PortDara Falcons RFC/Blackrock College RFC), Christy Haney (Blackrock College RFC), Ruth Campbell (Naas RFC/MU Barnhall RFC/Old Belvedere RFC), Eimear Corri (Portlaoise RFC/Blackrock College RFC), Caoimhe Molloy (Gorey RFC/Wicklow RFC), Molly Boyne (Railway Union RFC), Hannah O’Connor (CYM Terenure RFC/Blackrock College RFC) (capt).
Replacements: Aoife Moore (Carrick-on-Suir RFC/Blackrock College RFC), Kelly Burke (Mullingar RFC), Niamh O’Dowd (Old Belvedere RFC), Aoife Wafer (Enniscorthy RFC/Gorey RFC/Blackrock RFC), Clodagh Dunne (Gorey RFC/Old Belvedere RFC), Ailsa Hughes (Tullamore RFC/Railway Union RFC), Nikki Caughey (Malone RFC/Railway Union RFC), Anna Doyle (Tullow RFC/Blackrock College RFC).
Referee: Kevin Coffey (IRFU)
Assistant Referees: Mark Patton, Alana Kerr (both IRFU)
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