Energia All-Ireland League Women’s Division: Semi-Final Previews

It is knockout rugby from here on in as the leading four teams in the Energia All-Ireland League Women’s Division put their title ambitions on the line. You can watch both of today’s semi-finals live on irishrugby+, beginning at 12.30pm.

ENERGIA ALL-IRELAND LEAGUE WOMEN’S DIVISION SEMI-FINALS:

Sunday, April 13 –

RAILWAY UNION (1st) v OLD BELVEDERE (4th), Park Avenue, 12.30pm

Energia All-Ireland League Season’s Form: Railway Union: WWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW; Old Belvedere: LLLWWWWWWWLWWWWLLL
Energia All-Ireland League Top Scorers – Railway Union: Points: Lindsay Peat 110; Tries: Lindsay Peat 22; Old Belvedere: Points: Emma Tilly 100; Tries: Emma Tilly 20

‘Now It’s About Backing Ourselves To Perform’ – Tarpey On Railway’s Push For #EnergiaAIL Glory

Preview: Railway Union’s perfect record of 18 straight wins earned them home advantage at the semi-final stage, but they will be mindful of the slate being wiped clean. It all depends on what happens over the course of these 80 minutes as they bid to reach their fifth straight final.

Familiar rivals Old Belvedere stand in their way, Tania Rosser’s charges having bookended the regular season with defeats to Railway – 57-0 away and 31-5 at home – but a run of 11 victories in a dozen games cemented their place in the top four by early March.

Railway, the 2019 and 2022 champions, have ‘unfinished business’ to take care of, according to centre Leah Tarpey, after falling at the final hurdle to UL Bohemian last year. They have had a lazer focus in Mike South’s first season in charge, with John Cronin back in a senior coach role.

Captained again by Niamh Byrne, South’s side have looked like the team to beat from early on, tuning up for the play-offs by beating each of the other semi-finalists in the last three rounds. Their defence has been particularly impressive with an average of just 5.5 points conceded per game.

Scoring wise, Lindsay Peat, last season’s Women’s Division Player of the Year, leads the way for Railway with a terrific 22-try haul, including a brace against Old Belvedere a fortnight ago. Teenage backs Caoimhe McCormack and Hannah Scanlan have also come to the fore.

Out-half Scanlan starts today alongside former Ireland international Mary Healy, who is one of four personnel changes to the team that beat ‘Belvo last time out. Kirstie Stevenson and Megan Collis swap in as the starting props, and Sonia McDermott joins her older sister Aoife in the second row.

The Sligo connection continues with Poppy Garvey moving into a back row that features Molly Boyne, who captained Leinster to Interprovincial glory earlier in the season, and in-form number 8 Peat.

Railway can rely too on a strong replacements bench, which includes four Ireland-capped players. Claire Boles will get game-time after being released from Ireland’s extended Six Nations squad, and experienced duo Ailsa Hughes and Claire Keohane provide back-up at half-back.

Meanwhile, Old Belvedere make the short trip to Sandymount with a noticeably reinforced starting XV. Coming out of national camp, Deirbhile Nic a Bháird will pack down at the base of their scrum, and is set for a fascinating head-to-head with Peat, her former Ireland team-mate.

Katie Corrigan, a star of last year’s Six Nations Championship, comes in on the right wing and will be itching to make her mark having not played for ‘Belvo since last season.

The 19-year-old Ireland international is part of a potent back-three alongside Emma Tilly and Megan Edwards, who scored 38 tries between them during the regular season.

Jemma Farrell and Jade Gaffney combine at half-back, meaning a move to the centre for Áine Donnelly. Up front, Jess Keating and Nic a Bháird make it four personnel changes, while captain Lesley Ring shifts to lock for this repeat of ‘Belvo’s December 2022 semi-final trip to Park Avenue.

Nic a Bháird, who has Kara Mulcahy and Jane Neill, last year’s Ireland Under-20 captain, for company in the loose forwards, was captain back then when Old Belvedere opened up a 19-5 lead before Railway stormed back to win 34-19 and end their Dublin rivals’ title hopes.

‘Belvo have not been in a league final since 2018, and their skipper Ring, another of the Sligo natives involved in today’s play-off clash, spoke at the start of the season about their ‘three-year process with Tania’ and ‘building towards the final this year’.

Getting to lead the team out at the Aviva Stadium on Sunday, April 27 would be a dream come true for club centurion Ring, with the Energia All-Ireland League Men’s and Women’s finals set to be hosted together at the home of Irish Rugby for the second consecutive year.

Rosser’s squad will have drawn on the positives from their recent outing against Railway, when they only trailed 5-0 at half-time. Hooker Keating finished her try well, but key improvements in defence will be top of their agenda as they have conceded the most points out of the top four sides.

RAILWAY UNION: Caoimhe McCormack; Laura Sheehan, Niamh Byrne (capt), Leah Tarpey, Rhiann Heery; Hannah Scanlan, Mary Healy; Kirstie Stevenson, Emily Gavin, Megan Collis, Sonia McDermott, Aoife McDermott, Poppy Garvey, Molly Boyne, Lindsay Peat.

Replacements: Méabh Keegan, Tricia Doyle, Katie O’Dwyer, Evelyn Donnelly, Claire Boles, Ailsa Hughes, Claire Keohane, Aimee Clarke.

OLD BELVEDERE: Emma Tilly; Katie Corrigan, Áine Donnelly, Minonna Nunstedt, Megan Edwards; Jemma Farrell, Jade Gaffney; Hannah Wilson, Jess Keating, Katie Layde, Lesley Ring (capt), Órlaith McAuliffe, Kara Mulcahy, Jane Neill, Deirbhile Nic a Bháird.

Replacements: Hannah Rapley, Laura Carroll, Grace Tutty, Juliet Byrne, Ellie O’Sullivan Sexton, Vanessa Hullon, Kate Ballance, Charlotte Nagle.

Recent League Meetings – Saturday, September 28, 2024: Railway Union 57 Old Belvedere 0, Park Avenue; Saturday, March 29, 2025: Old Belvedere 5 Railway Union 31, Ollie Campbell Park

IrishRugby.ie Prediction: Railway Union to win

UL BOHEMIAN (2nd) v BLACKROCK COLLEGE (4th), Annacotty, 2.30pm

Energia All-Ireland League Season’s Form: UL Bohemian: WLWWWWWWWWWWWWWWLW; Blackrock College: LWLWWWWWWWWWWWLWWL
Energia All-Ireland League Top Scorers – UL Bohemian: Points: Eilís Cahill 85; Tries: Eilís Cahill 17; Blackrock College: Points: Maggie Boylan 110; Tries: Maggie Boylan 22

Moore Wants Blackrock To Come Out ‘Firing Harder’ Against Bohs

Preview: Two weeks on from a 19-7 defeat at the hands of UL Bohemian, a revenge-seeking Blackrock College make the return trip to Annacotty. Chisom Ugwueru was Bohs’ match winner that day, flying over for a hat-trick of tries from the left wing.

Railway Union have been the only team to beat UL Bohs this season, by a single point in Limerick and with a seven-point margin in last month’s rematch. Apart from those losses, Fiona Hayes’ side have been blemish free in their efforts to become back-to-back champions.

The Red Robins are chasing a record 15th All-Ireland League title, twelve months on from lifting the trophy for the first time since 2018. They have a mostly settled playing group, and 14 players who were involved in last year’s final are part of the matchday squad to play Blackrock.

One of their most impressive performers in 2024/25 has been Eilís Cahill, who has shown a real eye for the try-line. The 23-year-old prop has emerged as their leading try scorer with 17 to date, leaving the likes of wingers Ugwueru (13) and Laoise McGonagle (12) behind her.

It is the power and set-piece strength of the Bohs pack, combined with the pace and finishing ability of their backs, that makes them such a tough nut to crack. Indeed, Blackrock have lost their last four matches against UL, including a 17-15 reversal at home last March.

Hoping that they can extend that winning streak, Hayes has made five changes to the team that won by three tries to one last time out. Jane Clohessy and Caitríona Finn have been released from Ireland’s extended squad, with the former slotting in at openside flanker.

Munster vice-captain Aoife Corey and McGonagle reunite with Ugwueru in the back-three, and Stephanie Nunan starts in midfield where she replaces 18-year-old playmaker Finn, who will have a bench role this afternoon.

Kate Flannery, a quality operator at out-half and a star performer during last season’s final victory over Railway, will lead the back-line alongside Abbie Salter-Townshend, and Connacht hooker Lily Brady is the final change in the forwards.

Just like the earlier semi-final, this play-off encounter on Shannonside features two Ireland-capped players opposing each other in the number 8 position. The strong-carrying Chloe Pearse captains Bohs from the back row, and the dynamic Hannah O’Connor does likewise for Blackrock.

It was a tough start to the season for Blackrock, under new head coach Andy Adams, as they lost two of their opening three games to UL and Railway. O’Connor and her team-mates duly played their way into form, stringing together 11 wins in a row to set themselves up for a tidy third place finish.

With retirements and international and Celtic Challenge commitments, there has been quite a different look to the Blackrock selections this year.

Of today’s matchday squad, only O’Connor, Méabh Deely, Ella Durkan, Aoife Moore, Maeve Óg O’Leary, Ava Fannin, Lisa Mullen, and Ciara Scanlan were involved in their last win over Bohs – the December 2022 semi-final which they won 13-8 at home.

Ireland international O’Leary’s recent return from two knee surgeries has provided them with a timely boost. She starts again at openside flanker, while Ann-Marie Rooney and Clíodhna Ní Chonchobhair, fresh from her contribution to the Wolfhounds’ title success, are added to the pack.

The classy left boot of Mullen, who comes in at out-half, could be a big asset as ‘Rock try to upset the odds. Her inclusion in the back-line sees Durkan revert to full-back, and Andi Murphy move to the right wing. On the left is the excellent Maggie Boylan, the division’s joint-top try scorer with 22.

The visitors will also hope that the likes of Ava Ryder, a try scorer from a Durkan cross-field kick at Annacotty the last day, and the fit-again Méabh Deely can have a significant impact when they are introduced off the bench.

Deely has been training with the Ireland squad during the Six Nations, working her way back from injury. She was a key member of the Blackrock team that won their last league title in December 2022, top-scoring with 76 points.

UL BOHEMIAN: Aoife Corey; Laoise McGonagle, Éabha Nic Dhonnacha, Stephanie Nunan, Chisom Ugwueru; Kate Flannery, Abbie Salter-Townshend; Ciara McLoughlin, Lily Brady, Eilís Cahill, Claire Bennett, Sarah Garrett, Aoibhe O’Flynn, Jane Clohessy, Chloe Pearse (capt).

Replacements: Ciara O’Dwyer, Gráinne Burke, Niamh Brodie, Aoibheann Hahessy, Rachel Allen, Caitríona Finn, Clara Barrett, Abby Moyles.

BLACKROCK COLLEGE: Ella Durkan; Andi Murphy, Cara Martin, Catherine Martin, Maggie Boylan; Lisa Mullen, Casey Jackson; Aoife Moore, Ann-Marie Rooney, Megan Brodie, Clíodhna Ní Chonchobhair, Kate Jordan, Meadbh Scally, Maeve Óg O’Leary, Hannah O’Connor (capt).

Replacements: Ava Fannin, Molly Fitzpatrick, Nikki Gibson, Ciara Scanlan, Sarah Farley, Ava Ryder, Méabh Deely, Jillian O’Toole.

Recent League Meetings – Saturday, September 28, 2024: Blackrock College 15 UL Bohemian 31, Stradbrook; Saturday, March 29, 2025: UL Bohemian 19 Blackrock College 7, Annacotty

IrishRugby.ie Prediction: UL Bohemian to win

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