Munster and Leinster will avoid each other in the semi-finals of the IRFU Women's Interprovincial Championship after both provinces picked up a second win in the round-robin phase.
Munster were convincing 27-6 winners over Connacht at the Sportsground with Leinster picking up a 24-7 win away to Ulster.
Munster mixed set-piece dominance with off-loading prowess in a five-try win in Galway. Laura Sheehan scored a brace of lightning-quick tries from inside her own half with fellow starters Christine Coffey and Edel Murphy also crossing.
Munster’s fourth try was earned with the help of a strong replacements bench that included returning Ireland Captain Ciara Griffin and scorer Niamh Kavanagh.
Railway Union winger Steph Carroll made her Munster debut off the bench while Connacht gave a first start to Alex O’Connor - Tullow native and sister of Ireland international Sean O’Brien.
The home side’s points came from the assured boot of young out-half Meabh Deely. Connacht captain Nichola Fryday says there’s room for improvement.
"We’re disappointed," said Fryday. "It’s our own mistakes but we have to take it on the chin now and come back next week and go for it against Ulster. We’ve nothing to lose. The two losses are harsh but we’ll build from them.
"Stephen [Kerins] and Beano [Brian McClearn] have brought something new to the team. We just haven’t shown what they’ve brought yet in terms of our attack.
It was another positive outing for Munster and their co-captain Eimear Considine. "We set an aim before the game to not concede any tries," she said. "We’re happy with that plus the bonus point win is always good.
"We’re looking forward to playing Leinster next week and hopefully three wins out of three which will set us up with a good semi-final spot."
Leinster once again matched Munster’s bonus point on Saturday evening in Armagh. Ben Armstrong’s side grabbed two five-pointers in each half with tries from Molly Scuffil McCabe, Katie O’Dwyer, Hannah O’Connor and Megan Williams.
Larissa Muldoon added the extras with two conversions against her former province. Vicky Irwin scored Ulster’s try.
This Saturday’s third round will determine the semi-final pairings with Leinster away to Munster and Ulster hosting Connacht. The team that finishes first in the round-robin plays the fourth placed team and the second placed team plays third.
Both semi-finals will be staged at Templeville Road in Dublin, the home of St Mary’s College RFC.
