Munster Maintain Winning Form, But Connacht Finish The Stronger Side

A final-bound Munster completed a clean sweep of round robin wins in Galway, but Connacht, with their bench having a big say, claimed three closing tries to finish just 29-24 in arrears.

VODAFONE WOMEN’S INTERPROVINCIAL CHAMPIONSHIP – ROUND 3:

Saturday, August 24 –

CONNACHT 24 MUNSTER 29, Dexcom Stadium
Scorers: Connacht: Tries: Faith Oviawe, Orla Dixon 2, Edel McMahon; Cons: Nicole Fowley 2
Munster: Tries: Chloe Pearse, Chisom Ugwueru, Alana McInerney 2, Beth Buttimer; Cons: Kate Flannery 2
HT: Connacht 5 Munster 22

Already assured of their place in next Saturday’s Vodafone Women’s Interprovincial Championship final, Munster were in ruthless form and led 22-5 by half-time with Alana McInerney scoring her fifth try of the tournament.

Having opted to play into the wind, Connacht were stung by tries from Munster captain Chloe Pearse and Chisom Ugwueru inside the opening six minutes. Beth Buttimer added a maul effort for the visitors’ bonus point, 31 minutes in.

Faith Oviawe hit back for Emer O’Dowd’s team just before the interval, registering her fourth try of the campaign. A scrappy second half followed, with McInerney taking her try haul to six in three matches.

The result was effectively sewn up for Fiona Hayes’ side at that stage, yet Connacht had more in the tank and outplayed the table toppers down the final stretch. Their replacements brought energy and impact, and their scrum got on top.

Orla Dixon bagged a well-taken brace, snapping up scores in the 68th and 82nd minutes, and Ireland co-captain Edel McMahon also marked her first Connacht appearance in five years with a try from an excellent Nicole Fowley assist.

Despite the defeat, this was Connacht’s best result against Munster in four meetings, going back to 2021. They can take that positive finish with them to Kingspan Stadium next weekend, with third place still to fight for.

Munster closed out this third round clash with quite an inexperienced set of forwards on the pitch, and they have things to tidy up in the coming days, but again the firepower of their back-three, and the effectiveness of their starting pack, stands them in very good stead for the title decider.

The Connacht players wore their club socks as part of a ‘State of Origin’ match theme, with this their only home fixture and an opportunity to play at Dexcom Stadium while construction work is ongoing on the province’s new High Performance Centre and North Stand.

Kate Flannery’s probing early kick forced Ava Ryder to turn, and under pressure from McInerney, she conceded a penalty. Vodafone player-of-the-match Muirne Wall took it quickly, and Pearse pounced a few phases later to score from a close-in ruck.

Flannery converted impressively from the left and soon released McInerney on a pacy midfield break. She connected with fellow winger Ugwueru, who handed off her UL Bohemian club-mate, Laoise McGonagle, for a classy finish and a 12-point lead.

McGonagle threatened when Connacht began to build some attacking phases of their own. Co-captain Fowley’s well-executed arcing pass put her winger into some space, but Ugwueru and Aoife Corey combined to bring her down just five metres out.

A costly knock-on from Shannon Touhey Tierney allowed Munster to clear the danger, and the fight for possession intensified as a textbook maul turnover from Megan Collis, which led to a Connacht penalty, was replied to be a well-timed poach by Stephanie Nunan.

A second maul opportunity for Connacht, set up by Grace Browne Moran’s turnover penalty, was shut down by Munster’s well-organised defence, with second row Claire Bennett muscling in to win back possession for the visitors.

Into the second quarter, the Reds got back on the front foot. Despite Karly Tierney and Browne Moran’s determined breakdown work, Connacht’s defence was worn down before the Walls, Muirne and Dorothy, sent McInerney crashing over to make it 17-0.

Making her first start for Munster, young centre Lucia Linn’s sparking break unleashed Ugwueru again, only for Méabh Deely to tackle her into touch. The visitors’ maul proved unstoppable soon after, as a powerful drive landed hooker Buttimer over the line.

There was still enough time for Connacht to get off the mark before the teams returned to the dressing rooms. Ballina starlet Gráinne Moran caught Munster out with an excellent snipe around the side of a ruck, and she fed Oviawe to finish off to the right of the posts.

Having had to run back to retrieve the ball past the Munster try-line, Fowley’s time was limited for the conversion, and referee Cillian Hogan blew for half-time before the Sligo native had started her run up.

Amid a stop-start spell early on the resumption, Connacht unfortunately lost co-captain Touhey Tierney to injury, and Munster were able to introduce Eimear Considine into the back-three, getting a 30-minute runout on her return from an ACL injury.

McMahon then entered the fray for O’Dowd’s charges, while Sarah Purcell, Connacht’s Under-18 Interprovincial title-winning captain from last season, came on for her senior debut in the centre.

Munster’s half-backs and Linn spearheaded a break from deep, with scrum half Wall darting past halfway, and McInerney gathered the final pass to cut inside McGonagle’s attempted tackle and raid in behind the posts. Flannery drop-kicked the conversion from straight in front.

Hayes also sprung the fit-again Nicole Cronin from the bench, for her first Interprovincial involvement since last year’s final defeat to Leinster. Connacht’s bench was emptied by the hour mark, and Munster’s was too just a few minutes later.

Connacht were now forcing the issue, backed by the strong wind and the vocal home support in the South Stand. A well-constructed attack off a penalty ended with lively centre Dixon fighting through two tackles to touch down from Fowley’s pass.

The Connacht out-half converted with aplomb from the right, and the home fans were cheering again in the 74th minute. Ellen Connolly trucked the ball up from a tap penalty, and Fowley’s teasing pass was perfectly placed for McMahon to drive over past Linn and Flannery.

The home side had the upper hand now at the breakdown and in the scrum. Driving Munster backwards off their own set-piece ball, Poppy Garvey picked from the base to carry well, and the impressive Fowley put Dixon over and expertly converted with the final kick.

TIME LINE: 3 minutes – Munster try: Chloe Pearse – 0-5; conversion: Kate Flannery – 0-7; 6 mins – Munster try: Chisom Ugwueru – 0-12; conversion: missed by Kate Flannery – 0-12; 27 mins – Munster try: Alana McInerney – 0-17; conversion: missed by Kate Flannery – 0-17; 31 mins – Munster try: Beth Buttimer – 0-22; conversion: missed by Kate Flannery – 0-22; 40+2 mins – Connacht try: Faith Oviawe – 5-22; conversion: not taken as time elapsed – 5-22; Half-time – Connacht 5 Munster 22; 57 mins – Munster try: Alana McInerney – 5-27; conversion: Kate Flannery – 5-29; 68 mins – Connacht try: Orla Dixon – 10-29; conversion: Nicole Fowley – 12-29; 74 mins – Connacht try: Edel McMahon – 17-29; conversion: missed by Nicole Fowley – 17-29; 80+2 mins – Connacht try: Orla Dixon – 22-29; conversion: Nicole Fowley – 24-29; Full-time – Connacht 24 Munster 29

CONNACHT: Méabh Deely (Blackrock College RFC); Ava Ryder (Exeter Chiefs), Orla Dixon (Galwegians RFC), Éabha Nic Dhonnacha (UL Bohemian RFC), Laoise McGonagle (UL Bohemian RFC); Nicole Fowley (Galwegians RFC) (co-capt), Gráinne Moran (Ballina RFC); Ella Burns (Tuam/Oughterard RFC), Lily Brady (UL Bohemian RFC), Megan Collis (Railway Union RFC), Karly Tierney (Tuam/Oughterard RFC), Grace Browne Moran (Galwegians RFC), Faith Oviawe (Railway Union RFC), Béibhinn Gleeson (Tuam/Oughterard RFC), Shannon Touhey Tierney (Tullamore RFC) (co-capt).

Replacements used: Roisín Maher (Galwegians RFC) for Collis (28 mins), Poppy Garvey (Sligo Rugby) for Touhey Tierney (43), Edel McMahon (Exeter Chiefs) for Gleeson, May Goulding (Saracens) for Moran, Sarah Purcell (Creggs RFC) for Nic Dhonnacha (all 53), Stacy Hanley (Galwegians RFC) for Brady, Hannah Clarke (Tuam/Oughterard RFC) for McGonagle, Ellen Connolly (Galwegians RFC) for Burns (all 58), Gleeson for Browne Moran (64), Collis for Maher (66).

MUNSTER: Aoife Corey (UL Bohemian RFC); Chisom Ugwueru (UL Bohemian RFC), Lucia Linn (Loughborough Lightning), Stephanie Nunan (UL Bohemian 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), Dorothy Wall (Exeter Chiefs), Claire Bennett (UL Bohemian RFC), Clodagh O’Halloran (UL Bohemian RFC), Jane Clohessy (UL Bohemian RFC), Chloe Pearse (UL Bohemian RFC) (capt).

Replacements used: Eimear Considine (UL Bohemian RFC) for Ugwueru (48 mins), Nicole Cronin (UL Bohemian RFC) for Wall, Caitriona Finn (UL Bohemian RFC) for Nunan (both 58), Ciara O’Dwyer (UL Bohemian RFC) for McCarthy, Ciara McLoughlin (UL Bohemian RFC) for Cahill, Annakate Cournane (Shannon RFC) for O’Halloran (all 62), Emma Dunican (Tralee RFC) for Buttimer, Aoibhe O’Flynn (UL Bohemian RFC) for Bennett (both 65), Nunan for Flannery (75).

Referee: Cillian Hogan (IRFU)