HIGHLIGHTS | Munster begin Women’s Interprovincial Championship with comprehensive win over Ulster

It was a successful start to the championship for Munster who welcome Leinster to Cork this Saturday.

Munster produced a strong start to their Vodafone Women’s Interprovincial Championship campaign after Niamh Briggs’ side recorded a 34-0 victory over Ulster at a blustery Musgrave Park on Saturday.

Tries came from Player of the Match Deirbhile Nic a Bháird (two), Claire Bennett (two), Stephanie Nunan and Aoife Doyle with Nicole Cronin and Kate Flannery adding a conversion each.

Flannery was amongst six debuts on the night with Eilís Cahill, Geena Behan, Ciara Farrell, Gillian Coombes and Heather Kennedy also making their first appearances for Munster.

Munster got off to a great start as a powerful maul effort saw Nic a Bhaird peel off the back and crash over the line. Nicole Cronin was unsuccessful with the conversion attempt as Niamh Briggs’ side took an early 5-0 lead.

Munster doubled their advantage soon after as some excellent handling through numerous passages of play brought the southern province up to the Ulster line where Stephanie Nunan was on hand to touch down in the corner. Another difficult conversion attempt just drifted wide for Cronin.

With 15 minutes on the clock, Munster made it 15-0 as Aoife Doyle accelerated through a gap to touch down close to the posts. Unfortunately for Munster, Cronin’s conversion just went wide to the left.

Munster secured the bonus-point with less than 10 minutes remaining in the first half. An incredible break from Maeve Óg O’Leary which saw some superb offloading from Nic a Bhaird and Nunan in the build up, saw the flanker tackled just short of the line but Claire Bennett was on hand to crash over from close range moments later.

Cronin succeeded with her difficult conversion attempt to give Munster a 22-0 lead heading into the half-time break.

Briggs’ side got their fifth try midway through the second half when Claire Bennett touched down off the back of a powerful rolling maul from the women in red.

Munster’s sixth try came with the clock in the red when Nic a Bhaird evaded a number of tackles to cross to the right of the posts. Flannery’s successful conversion was the last act of the game as Munster know look forward to welcoming Leinster to Musgrave Park next Saturday.

Please accept YouTube cookies to play this video. By accepting you will be accessing content from YouTube, a service provided by an external third party.

YouTube privacy policy

If you accept this notice, your choice will be saved and the page will refresh.

Accept YouTube Content

Munster face Leinster at Musgrave Park on Saturday in Round 2 with a 12.15pm kick-off.