Munster took a giant leap towards retaining the Vodafone Women’s Interprovincial Championship title thanks to a 26-17 bonus-point win over Leinster at Musgrave Park.
Replacement Stephanie Carroll’s last-minute try, set up by captain Nicole Cronin, moved Niamh Briggs’s side five points clear at the top of the table ahead of next Saturday’s final round trip to Connacht.
Old Belvedere club-mates Jenny Murphy and Deirbhile Nic a Bháird were once again amongst the tries in the opening stages for their respective provinces. Murphy was released through a gap by Dannah O’Brien for Leinster’s breakthrough effort in the fourth minute, before Munster swiftly fired back with a clinical finish from the versatile Nic a Bháird.
O’Brien and her Munster counterpart Nicole Cronin also contributed conversions during a pulsating start, but the latter added another bonus strike after Roisin Ormond drove over the Leinster line on 22 minutes.
This was enough to give the hosts a 14-7 interval cushion and with Murphy still in the sin-bin arising from an incident towards the end of the opening period, Munster pounced for a third try courtesy of lock Clodagh O’Halloran in the 43rd minute.
It was beginning to look ominous for Leinster, but Elise O’Byrne-White’s unconverted finish on 55 minutes brought a much-needed lease of life to their challenge before a five-pointer from Aoife Dalton raised the prospect of a comeback victory, but a Stephanie Carroll try on the stroke of full-time finally secured the spoils for Munster.
But despite losing player-of-the-match O’Leary, Munster finished the stronger with replacement Ciara Farrell slicing through midfield before Carroll clinched a deserved victory.