Oviawe Bags Brace In Belfast As Connacht Claim Third Place

Faith Oviawe celebrated her call-up as an Ireland training panellist by helping Connacht to a third place finish, wearing down a Brittany Hogan-less Ulster to close out the Vodafone Women’s Interprovincial Championship with a 33-19 play-off victory.

VODAFONE WOMEN’S INTERPROVINCIAL CHAMPIONSHIP 3RD-4TH PLACE PLAY-OFF:

Saturday, August 31 –

CONNACHT 33 ULSTER 19, Kingspan Stadium
Scorers: Connacht: Tries: Edel McMahon, Faith Oviawe 2, Hannah Clarke, Béibhinn Gleeson; Cons: Nicole Fowley 4
Ulster: Tries: Sophie Barrett, Abby Moyles 2; Cons: Abby Moyles 2
HT: Connacht 14 Ulster 7

Oviawe touched down in either half at Kingspan Stadium, taking her tournament haul to six tries, but the game’s biggest talking point was the sending-off of Ulster’s stand-in captain Hogan in the 33rd minute.

She saw red for an apparent tip tackle on Grace Browne Moran, with referee Tomas O’Sullivan ruling there was no mitigation. Ulster also had to cope with first-half yellow cards for centres Catherine Martin and Lucinda Kinghan.

Ireland co-captain Edel McMahon and Oviawe cancelled out Sophie Barrett’s 14th-minute try to give Connacht a 14-7 half-time lead. Having fought back for a 25-all draw with Connacht a fortnight ago, Ulster rallied superbly again.

Two Abby Moyles tries got them back level at 19-all, sandwiching a classy Hannah Clarke effort, only for the westerners to outlast their hosts thanks to closing scores from player-of-the-match Oviawe (72 minutes) and Béibhinn Gleeson (81).

This was revenge of sorts for Connacht’s 36-14 defeat to Ulster in the 3rd-4th place play-off from twelve months ago, and a fine way for Emer O’Dowd’s young charges to end the campaign after missing out on that victory in Belfast recently.

Despite the result, Murray Houston’s Ulster outfit, with a number of young players standing out too, coped admirably with the setback of losing Hogan, on the back of Kathryn Dane’s absence due to her Barbarians call-up, and with fellow internationals Fiona Tuite, Vicky Irwin, and Sadhbh McGrath also unavailable.

Both teams got off to a lively start in sunny conditions, with quick ruck ball generated by Connacht who sought out Clarke, a training panellist with the newly-announced Ireland squad, on the left wing.

Ulster regained territory thanks to a couple of purposeful runs from hooker India Daley, who produced a fantastic individual performance. When Connacht countered at pace, Martin saw yellow after her knocking on a Shannon Touhey Tierney pass was adjudged to be intentional.

Handling errors prevented Connacht from taking advantage, and a brilliant surge back downfield, with Hogan, Megan Edwards, and Moyles to the fore, led to a kickable penalty which Moyles missed having struck the near left hand post.

However, there was no denying Barrett barely minutes later. The all-action Daley, and Maebh Clenaghan, ignited the attack, and Connacht covered Edwards out wide, but Barrett burst off the back of a ruck to crash over in superb fashion, aided by Hogan’s latch.

After Moyles had made it a full seven-pointer, Connacht laid the foundations for a swift response. Browne Moran’s turnover penalty gave them a maul opportunity in Ulster’s 22, only for Lily Brady, who had been throwing well, to misfire at the lineout.

Ulster full-back Lauren Farrell McCabe made a crucial tackle on the advancing Oviawe, as Connacht continued to knock on the door. Daley soon drove her side back past halfway with another eye-catching break off a maul.

There was huge frustration for the westerners in the 28th minute, as Méabh Deely knocked on in the act of scoring. A slick move from a scrum saw Nicole Fowley deftly put the Ireland full-back darting in under the posts, but TMO Colin Stanley spotted separation with the grounding.

Referee O’Sullivan became more of a central figure soon after, as he dismissed Hogan for taking Browne Moran above the horizontal. The Connacht lock landed on her head, albeit without force, and the match officials reasoned that there was no mitigation.

With Kinghan then infringing right on her try-line, following a bustling Sarah Purcell break, Ulster were down to 13 players and could not hold out. Fowley sent McMahon over from close range, and added the levelling conversion.

Daley dug in at the breakdown to win a much-needed penalty for Ulster, but Connacht squeezed in a second seven-pointer just before the interval. Fowley’s inviting pass put Oviawe reaching over past tackles from Moyles and Martin.

Houston’s resilient side hit back within eight minutes of the restart. The Ulster forwards applied the pressure, and out-half Moyles was in the right place at the right time to claim an opportunist score after the ball had gone loose from McMahon’s rip on Clenaghan.

Connacht remained in front though, as Moyles’ conversion bounced away off the post with the scoreboard showing 14-12. Ulster were having more of the ball now, yet a Brenda Barr kick was turned into a terrific breakway try by two-thirds of Connacht’s back-three.

Deely did the initial damage, countering on the left and slinging a peach of an offload away to Clarke, taking two defenders out in the process. The 19-year-old winger then dinked a kick down the touchline and retrieved it a few metres short for a textbook finish.

Back came Ulster, taking Connacht through the phases on the hour mark with Daley, Martin, and the fast-breaking Farrell McCabe making the incisions. The ever-alert Moyles used a close-in penalty to go quickly, dummying a pass and stretching out to score beside the posts.

The Trim native split the posts with her conversion, drawing Ulster level at 19-all with the home support responding in kind. Ulster’s defence came up trumps soon after, holding up McMahon with replacement Stacey Sloan and Martin getting the plaudits.

The defensive workload was too much in the end, though, as Connacht came hunting again past the 70-minute mark. Some pacy phases led to Orla Dixon sending Oviawe in behind the posts to make it 26-19.

With 18-year-old replacement Emily Foley fizzing with intent on the left wing, Connacht kept pushing for scores. Co-captain Fowley dropped a late penalty attempt short from a tough position, but they did have one more try in them.

Megan Collis came back on and it was her forceful carry that led to flanker Gleeson, another of the Tuam/Oughterard contingent, deservedly crossing. She pinched the ball back from Rachel McIlroy to dive over, and Fowley took her kicking contribution to eight points.

TIME LINE: 4 minutes – Ulster yellow card: Catherine Martin; 12 mins – Ulster penalty: missed by Abby Moyles – 0-0; 14 mins – Ulster try: Sophie Barrett – 0-5; conversion: Abby Moyles – 0-7; 33 mins – Ulster red card: Brittany Hogan; 34 mins – Ulster yellow card: Lucinda Kinghan; 34 mins – Connacht try: Edel McMahon – 5-7; conversion: Nicole Fowley – 7-7; 40+1 mins – Connacht try: Faith Oviawe – 12-7; conversion: Nicole Fowley – 14-7; Half-time – Connacht 14 Ulster 7; 48 mins – Ulster try: Abby Moyles – 14-12; conversion: missed by Abby Moyles – 14-12; 52 mins – Connacht try: Hannah Clarke – 19-12; conversion: missed by Nicole Fowley – 19-12; 62 mins – Ulster try: Abby Moyles – 19-17; conversion: Abby Moyles – 19-19; 72 mins – Connacht try: Faith Oviawe – 24-19; conversion: Nicole Fowley – 26-19; 79 mins – Connacht penalty: missed by Nicole Fowley – 26-19; 80+1 mins – Connacht try: Béibhinn Gleeson – 31-19; conversion: Nicole Fowley – 33-19; Full-time – Connacht 33 Ulster 19

CONNACHT: Méabh Deely (Blackrock College RFC); Ava Ryder (Exeter Chiefs), Orla Dixon (Galwegians RFC), Sarah Purcell (Creggs RFC), Hannah Clarke (Tuam/Oughterard 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), Faith Oviawe (Railway Union RFC), Grace Browne Moran (Galwegians RFC), Béibhinn Gleeson (Tuam/Oughterard RFC), Edel McMahon (Exeter Chiefs), Shannon Touhey Tierney (Tullamore RFC) (co-capt).

Replacements used: Roisín Maher (Galwegians RFC) for Collis (24 mins), Éabha Nic Dhonnacha (UL Bohemian RFC) for Purcell (50), Emily Foley (Ballina RFC) for Deely, Poppy Garvey (Sligo Rugby) for Touhey Tierney (both 54), Stacy Hanley (Galwegians RFC) for Brady, Ellen Connolly (Galwegians RFC) for Burns, May Goulding (Saracens) for Moran, Orla Fenton (Galwegians RFC) for Browne Moran, Collis for Maher (all 64).

ULSTER: Lauren Farrell McCabe (Suttonians RFC); Lucy Thompson (Enniskillen RFC), Catherine Martin (Blackrock College RFC), Lucinda Kinghan (Railway Union RFC), Megan Edwards (Old Belvedere RFC); Abby Moyles (Blackrock College RFC), Rachael McIlroy (Queen’s University Belfast RFC); Ava Fannin (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) (capt).

Replacements used: Bronach Cassidy (Queen’s University Belfast RFC) for Fannin (32 mins), Fannin for Barrett, Megan Brodie (Blackrock College RFC) for Cassidy, Stacey Sloan (Cooke RFC) for M Hill (all 54), Barrett for Fannin (65), Paige Smyth (Ballynahinch RFC) for Thompson (70), Christy Hill (Ballymena RFC) for Clenaghan, Ellen Patterson (Queen’s University Belfast RFC) for Barr (both 73), Peita McAlister (Malone RFC) for Martin, Lauren Patterson (MU Barnhall RFC/Blackrock College RFC) for Edwards (both 79).

Referee: Tomas O’Sullivan (IRFU)