With all eyes on the Olympic Games in Paris across the last fortnight, the 2024 Vodafone Women's Interprovincial Championship has come in a little bit under the radar.
Despite that, it’s shaping up to be the most important Interpro championship in recent history.
With a high-profile Test against Australia to come next month, before a step-up in class when Scott Bemand’s side take on New Zealand, Canada and the USA in WXV 1 later in the autumn, these next few weeks will be the final opportunity to impress the Ireland head coach and get significant game time into his home-based players.
While the introduction of the WXV to the September/October international window has come at the detriment of the All-Ireland League, it has inflated the importance of the Interpro championship, which was in danger of becoming an afterthought during the 2010s, swapping back and forth between early and mid-season.
Defending champions Leinster will come into the month as favourites to retain their prize, having recovered from a shock defeat to Connacht in last season’s opener before going on to win their seventh title.
"Definitely haven’t forgotten that day," Leinster captain Hannah O’Connor said of that 18-17 defeat in Galway last year.
"It’s definitely in the front of my memory in terms of the frustration and the upset that was caused for us on the first day of the campaign last year."
The sides meet again on the opening day this season, with Leinster the hosts at 4.45pm at Energia Park in Donnybrook on Saturday, and they’ve never lost to the western province at home in the championship.
"We’re under no illusions as to the task that is ahead of us this weekend, and the threats that Connacht pose. They’re a really good side, they have a mix of experience and youth in their ranks.
"I suppose it’s the unknown quantity of the first game that always brings that extra bit of tension to it. So, we’re definitely not taking anything lightly. Full of respect for them.
"They were the deserved winners in that match last season, they played the full match and we didn’t take our chances when we had them. We had the lovely weather of the west with us as well, which I’m familiar with from back home [Loughrea]," the Galway native added.
Head coach Tania Rosser is without a number of Ireland internationals for Saturday's opener.
Natasja Behan will miss the entire Interpro championship due to injury, while out-half Dannah O'Brien, wing Katie Corrigan and flanker Aoife Wafer are among the notable absentees.
Linda Djougang and Aoife Dalton provide international experience in the side while Dalton is joined in the centre by debutant Cara Martin (below), who was part of the Ireland U20 squad that played in the Summer Series earlier this year.
Connacht’s 2023 Interpro campaign was one of peaks and valleys.
Their dramatic win over Leinster in that season opener left them with a great chance of reaching a first final since 2019, but after missing out on a place in the decider, their campaign ended on a low note, beaten 36-14 by Ulster in what was the northern province’s first win in the championship since 2012.
Emer O’Dowd’s side have been able to bring in former Ireland internationals Gavin Duffy and Alison Miller to their coaching ticket in 2024, while they’ve also been boosted by the availability of Ireland co-captain Edel McMahon who is set to be available later in the championship before she returns to Exeter Chiefs in the Premiership Women’s Rugby.
One crucial absentee, however, will be Aoibheann Reilly. The scrum-half returned from an anterior cruciate ligament injury for last year’s Interpros, but after looking back to her best in the Six Nations, the 23-year-old suffered a recurrence of that injury while playing for the Irish Sevens team in May.
Speaking of scrum-halves, the story of this championship is unquestionably the return of Kathryn Dane (below) for Ulster.
The Ireland international is set to play her first her first competitive rugby in 20 months, after suffering a brain hemorrhage in November 2022.
Dane had been rehabbing an ACL injury when she suddenly fell ill at the IRFU high-performance facility just under two years ago, but after a lengthy rehabilitation period, she will return as captain for the meeting with Munster, having helped out as part of the coaching team in 2023.
Head coach Murray Houston will be assisted by former Ireland women’s international Grace Davitt, and current Ulster men’s prop Eric O’Sullivan as they look to capitalise on last season’s championship, when they ended their 11-year wait for a win when they defeated Connacht in the third-place play-off.
Ulster travel to Munster in the opening round on Saturday (2.30pm, Virgin Media Park) with the hosts looking like the best challengers to Leinster for the title.
With Niamh Briggs now in a new role as a national talent coach in the province, Fiona Hayes steps up to the head coach role having led UL Bohs to the All-Ireland League title at the end of April.
Bohs contribute 13 players to the Munster starting line-up this week, including half-back combo Muirne Walle and Katie Flannery, the latter of whom was involved with the Ireland U20s earlier this summer.
Deirbhile Nic a Bháird isn't selected for the opener, but the versatile forward is set to make her long-awaited injury comeback this month.
The Ireland international suffered a torn ACL shortly after last year's Interpro championship, which saw her miss the WXV and Six Nations in the last 10 months, while Enya Breen makes a welcome return to Munster colours this weeked after missing last season’s campaign.
Dorothy Wall will be unavailable for Saturday’s opener in Cork, but the 24-year-old has been made available by Exeter for the remainder of the championship, having joined the Chiefs this summer.
Two home games in a row against Ulster and Leinster will give the 15-time champions a chance to plant a flag in the championship, but as they learned in 2023 when they were beaten 33-14 by Leinster in the decider, a fast start counts for little on finals day
Vodafone Women's Interprovincial Championsjip
Round 1 fixtures - Saturday 10 August
Munster v Ulster, Virgin Media Park, 2.30pm
Leinster v Connacht, Energia Park, 4.45pm
Munster: Eimear Considine; Chisom Ugwueru, Stephanie Nunan, Enya Breen, Alana McInerney; Kate Flannery, Muirne Wall; Siobhan McCarthy, Beth Buttimer, Éilis Cahill; Clodagh O'Halloran, Claire Bennett; Brianna Heylmann, Jane Clohessy, Chloe Pearse (capt).
Replacements: Emma Dunican, Ciara O’Dwyer, Ciara McLoughlin, Aoibhe O’ Flynn, Annakate Cournane, Abbie Salter-Townshend, Lucia Linn, Maggie Boylan.
Ulster: Lauren Farrell-McCabe; Sophie Meeke, Peita McAlister, Tara O'Neill, Lauren Patterson; Vicky Irwin, Kathryn Dane (capt); Gemma McCamley, India Daley, Sophie Barrett; Brenda Barr, Fiona Tuite; Moya Hill, Christy Hill, Brittany Hogan.
Replacements: Maebh Clenaghan, Bronach Cassidy, Megan Brodie, Cara O'Kane, Stacey Sloan, Rachael McIlroy, Paige Smith, Lucy Thompson, Ruby Starrett.
Leinster: Emma Tilly; Ella Roberts, Aoife Dalton, Cara Martin, Aimee Clarke; Nikki Caughey, Katie Whelan; Aoife Moore, Sarah Delaney, Linda Djougang; Ruth Campbell, Eimear Corri; Hannah O’Connor (capt), Molly Boyne, Caoimhe Molloy.
Replacements: Julia O'Connor, Katie Layde, Christy Haney, Clodagh Dunne, Jane Neill, Jemma Farrell, Ailsa Hughes, Leah Tarpey.
Connacht: Meabh Deely; Laoise McGonagle, Ava Ryder, Éabha Nic Dhonnacha, Clara Barrett; Nicole Fowley (co-capt), Grainne Moran; Ella Burns, Lily Brady, Megan Collis; Orla Fenton, Rosie Searle; Beibhinn Gleeson, Lesley Ring, Shannon Touhey (co-capt).
Replacements: Stacy Hanley, Ellen Connolly, Roisín Maher, Faith Oviawe, Karly Tierney, May Goulding, Orla Dixon, Emily Foley.
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