‘This Tops Last Year’ – Rosser On Leinster’s Successful Title Defence

Despite pointing to a few missed opportunities, Leinster’s Tania Rosser was undoubtedly a ‘happy’ head coach as she reflected on their overall performance in Saturday’s Vodafone Women’s Interprovincial Championship final.

Leinster saved the best for last as they ran out 27-7 winners over Munster at Kingspan Stadium, having established control of the scoreboard just before half-time thanks to tries from Leah Tarpey and Aoife Wafer.

This was Rosser’s third Interprovincial campaign in charge of Leinster, and their second successive title win matches the achievements of the Ben Armstrong-coached Blues from 2018 and 2019.

Having lost away to Connacht during the first round last year, Rosser’s charges embarked on a similar route to glory this time as their 20-point triumph in Belfast saw them avenge a second round loss to Munster, making their latest victory all the sweeter.

“I thought last year was pretty good, but this year tops it,” Rosser told Leinster Rugby TV. “It was quite an emotional day today, we had the families in doing the jersey presentation.

“It just shows how much it means to the families and the players, the girls out here playing. I’m delighted. There were a couple of big send-offs this week for one or two players, but back-to-back, it feels good.

“We said it wasn’t going to be easy against Munster, that they’d be physical, and we asked the girls to front up, both in the contact side of the game, and they did.

“They scored some lovely tries as well. We got held up a couple of times, a coupled of misses opportunities with overlaps, but look, it was 27-7, I’m happy with that.”

Similar to the second round clash in Cork, Munster were first out of the traps, and their young hooker Beth Buttimer was a whisker away from an early try. However, there was no stopping Alana McInerney from breaking clear for a superb 12th-minute score.

What followed was 27 unanswered points from a battle-hardened Leinster, boosted by the form of the likes of Linda Djougang, Tarpey, Aoife Dalton and Wafer, as well as the second half involvement of Dannah O’Brien on her seasonal debut.

Saturday’s result made all the hard work put in over the summer months very much worth it, with those closing wins over Ulster and Munster, both in Belfast, backing up their opening 38-19 triumph over Connacht which was watched by a record crowd of 2,462 at Energia Park.

It has been a family affair for Rosser with her husband Simon, the Leinster Rugby Academy manager, helping out at training before the final, and their teenage son Serge, a talented Ireland Touch player, also involved behind the scenes.

“I think in the early parts (of the final), on our restart when we didn’t collect it, that put us under pressure. We did a bit of line defence during the week with Simon, which was good, so they got through that part,” explained the former Leinster and Ireland scrum half.

“It was a little big stressful, but the girls came through. They had to settle a little bit, I think we were trying too much at times and forcing things when we didn’t need to.

“But when we settled in, I was happy enough. I was quite comfortable at times, although they could probably hear me screaming up there, ‘Hangman!’, but it’s alright.”

You could see the tight bond between the Leinster players during the post-match celebrations, with an obvious delight that they secured the silverware in honour of captain Hannah O’Connor, who unfortunately could not play her last provincial game before retirement due to concussion.

Stand-in skipper Molly Boyne spoke afterwards about how much of an inspiration O’Connor has been to her team-mates, and Rosser echoed those sentiments when praising the Ireland forward’s leadership skills and impact on the province’s upward trajectory.

“Hannah has been a really big leader in our squad, but not only in our squad but with Blackrock (College) and Ireland as well.

“She’s done so much for Women’s rugby so to get this win for her (is great). It’s not just about our squad, it’s about our wider clubs, it’s about the family, it’s about everyone else that has supported us.

“The great thing about Hannah is that she’s challenged me through my coaching career which is great.”

As well as giving O’Connor a send-off to remember, Leinster’s title defence has seen a number of new caps blooded and really make their mark despite their age and lack of experience.

Rosser gave debuts to Cara Martin, Jane Neill, Jemma Farrell, Katie Layde, and Julia O’Connor when Connacht visited them in round one, before Jade Gaffney and Robyn O’Connor won their first caps off the bench against Munster, and Kelly Burke did likewise at Ulster.

It is a ringing endorsement of the coaching put into those players, and their own high standards individually, that five of them were part of Leinster’s matchday 23 for the final. Robyn O’Connor (pictured below) and Gaffney both started in the back-line, and Ireland Under-20 captain Neill featured in the back row.

Wexford youngster Robyn O’Connor (19) looks an especially exciting talent, having already opened her try-scoring account with a terrific inidividual try against Ulster, and earned her first call-up to the Ireland senior squad.

She may be the figurehead and deservedly gaining more recognition for her coaching ability and the confident she instills in her players, but Rosser was keen to highlight how much of a group effort it was for Leinster to retain the Interprovincial trophy.

“This year has been quite special, we’re really worked hard on our culture. I think you would have seen that at the end of the match there.

“To see all the young ones in our squad training, happy to be around. Even the senior players just opening up their knowledge to the girls. I think that’s quite empowering in women’s sport.

“I can’t say enough about my backroom staff, I can’t say enough about Leinster as a whole. It’s not just us (the players and the coaches) on the pitch.

“I don’t know if people get that sense, but it’s the whole team (including those behind the scenes), and I truly mean that from the bottom of my heart,” added the 2015 Six Nations winner.