MATCH REPORT: MUNSTER RUGBY 26 LEINSTER RUGBY 17
They produced a gallant effort on the day, but Leinster ultimately fell to a 26-17 defeat at the hands of defending champions Munster in the Vodafone Women’s Interprovincial Championship at Musgrave Park on Saturday afternoon.
Despite Jenny Murphy, Elise O’Byrne-White and Aoife Dalton breaching the home team’s rearguard, a four-try haul from Niamh Briggs’ Munster ultimately gave them the spoils and leaves them at the summit of the Interpro table moving into next weekend’s final round of action.
Showing four changes from the team that earned a 38-10 opening round win over Connacht at Energia Park seven days earlier, Leinster enjoyed a dream start to the contest. Following an extended spell of attacking pressure inside the Munster ’22’, Dannah O’Brien’s delicate pass released Murphy through a defensive gap for a try to the right of the posts.
Carlow native O’Brien was on hand to supply the extras to this score, giving the visitors a seven-point cushion in the process. This was Murphy’s third try of the tournament, supplementing the excellent brace she bagged in the Connacht game.
Her Old Belvedere club-mate Deirbhile Nic a Bháird did likewise for Munster in their first round success at the expense of Ulster and she was back in on the scoring act herself as a direct response to Murphy’s deadlock breaker. Latching onto an offload from winger Alana McInerney, Nic a Bháird (who has represented Ireland at the 7s and 15s grades) sprinted over the line in clinical style with just over eight minutes gone on the clock.
Nicole Cronin – cousin of former Leinster hooker Sean Cronin – added the bonuses from a left-hand angle to consequently restore parity. It was proving to be a pulsating start to this tie on the Leeside with both teams playing with total commitment and no lack of attacking intent.
However, it was Munster who ultimately turned the tables on their arch rivals with their second try in the 22nd-minute. Although the Leinster defence initially kept them at bay, scrum-half Muirne Wall picked out loosehead prop Roisin Ormond for a powerful finish over the whitewash.
Another successful Cronin conversion created further daylight between the teams. Leinster managed to get back on top of possession as the play progressed, with Molly Scuffil-McCabe, O’Brien and Murphy giving the visitors plenty of momentum in the opposition half.
While Munster held out to bring a 14-7 cushion into the interval, Leinster remained firmly in contention on the resumption. Yet the sin-binning of Murphy just before the break was a temporary set-back for Tania Rosser’s charges and Munster claimed a third converted try courtesy of second-row Clodagh O’Halloran in advance of her return to the field of play.
In order to keep themselves in contention, it was vital that Leinster got the next score of the game. After registering a five-pointer off the bench against Connacht, O’Byrne-White was rewarded with a place in the starting line-up for this fixture.
She was ideally positioned on 55 minutes to squeeze over in the right-corner for a much-needed try and even though O’Brien was marginally short of the target from a touchline conversion, Leinster were now facing into a more manageable nine-point deficit.
The bench (including Cork woman Elaine Anthony) was making a strong impact for the second weekend running and kept Munster on the back-foot as the game moved into its final-quarter. The yellow card issued to Munster’s international flanker Maeve Og O’Leary ensured that Leinster ended the game with a numerical supremacy and they seized advantage of the additional space inside the opposition defence through Aoife Dalton’s superb one-handed finish in the left-corner five minutes from time.
It wasn’t to be in the end for Leinster though as Stephanie Carroll crossed the whitewash on the stroke of 80 minutes to finally put the seal on a Munster victory.
The Blues will now look to end their campaign on a high when they take on Ulster in Queen’s University next Saturday.
SCORERS:
MUNSTER – D Nic a Bháird, R Ormond, C O’Halloran, S Carroll try each; N Cronin 3 cons.
LEINSTER – J Murphy, E O’Byrne-White, A Dalton try each; D O’Brien con.
MUNSTER
15. Aoife Corey
14. Aoife Doyle
13. Stephanie Nunan / Stephanie Carroll 76 mins
12. Rachel Allen / Kate Flannery 64 mins
11. Alana McInerney
10. Nicole Cronin
9. Muirne Wall
1. Roisin Ormond / Ciara Farrell 76 mins
2. Kate Sheehan / Chloe Pearse 48 mins
3. Fiona Reidy / Eilís Cahill 64 mins
4. Clodagh O’Halloran
5. Claire Bennett / Gillian Coombes 71 mins
6. Dorothy Wall
7. Maeve O’Leary
8. Deirbhile Nic a Bháird
LEINSTER
15. Ella Roberts (Wicklow RFC)
14. Elise O’Byrne-White (Old Belvedere RFC) / Ailsa Hughes (Tullamore RFC/Railway Union RFC) 62 mins
13. Aoife Dalton (Tullamore RFC/Old Belvedere RFC)
12. Jenny Murphy (Old Belvedere RFC)
11. Anna Doyle (Tullow RFC/Blackrock College RFC)
10. Dannah O’Brien (Tullow RFC/Old Belvedere RFC)
9. Molly Scuffil-McCabe (Garda Westmanstown RFC/Railway Union RFC)
1. Aoife Moore (Blackrock College RFC) / Megan Collis (Greystones RFC/Railway Union RFC) 48 mins
2. Jess Keating (Old Belvedere RFC) / Lisa Callan (Railway Union RFC) 61 mins
3. Christy Haney (St Mary’s College RFC/Blackrock RFC, CO-CAPTAIN) / Vic O’Mahony (Old Belvedere RFC) 67 mins
4. Aoife McDermott (Railway Union RFC)
5. Eimear Corri (Portlaoise RFC/Blackrock College RFC) / Elaine Anthony (Old Belvedere RFC) 44 mins
6. Niamh O’Dowd (Old Belvedere RFC)
7. Molly Boyne (DUFC/Railway Union RFC)
8. Hannah O’Connor (CYM RFC/Blackrock College RFC, CO-CAPTAIN)
REFEREE: Andrew Fogarty (IRFU).