With one round of the Vodafone Women's Interprovincial Championship series remaining, it’s a shootout between Leinster and Ulster to see who can join Munster in next weekend’s final.
Fiona Hayes’ Munster outfit have already beaten Ulster (29-22) and Leinster (32-21) and their tally of 10 points guarantees a place in the decider in Belfast ahead of Saturday’s clash with Connacht in Galway (2.30pm).
Champions Leinster, second place in the table on five points, missed out on a bonus point in last weekend’s loss in Cork but know that a win or a draw with Ulster will be enough to face off against Munster in what would be a repeat of last season’s final.
They will be overwhelming favourites at the Kingspan Stadium (4.45pm) but Ulster can take huge heart from their dogged performances so far.
Trailing to Munster and Connacht over the last two weekends, Murray Houston’s side scored two late tries in both games to carve out four points, a respectable tally given that last season’s win over the Westerners was their first Interpro victory in 12 years.
There have been 32 tries scored (plus a penalty try) across the four games so far and the improvement in quality has been notable.
Indeed, only one of the four matches, Leinster's 38-19 win over Connacht didn’t go down to the wire and spectators were kept entertained throughout.
Asked about the standards, Hayes, who handed debuts to seven players over the two games, stressed the value of the training programmes that have nurtured potential talent from an early age.
"It's got to do a lot with those programmes at Munster, Connacht, Ulster and Leinster," the former Ireland prop told RTÉ Sport.
"These girls now have a year of that national talent camp where they're in training and I think it's transferring to the pitch now.
"The philosophy of a lot of the teams is trying to promote the game and play good rugby and not just get caught down in that one-phase rugby.
"I've definitely seen a lot more phases being strung together and especially trying to play wide and attack those wider channels."
Munster welcome back Ireland internationals Nicole Cronin and Eimear Considine to their match-day squad.
Leinster’s Nikki Caughey is a senior member of Tania Rosser’s squad and the out-half can see a huge difference in the approach of the new crop, many of whom have grown up as 'rugby natives’ as opposed to the trend of players stepping across from other codes to the interprovincial and international stages.
"The younger ones are just so confident when they come in," she said of her team-mates, five of whom made debuts in their opener against Connacht.
"They probably have a lot more rugby knowledge than what our generation might have had at that age.
"We picked it up a lot later, and they are coming in playing since they were 14, 15, real good athletes."
While not overly concerned about the defeat last weekend, Caughey knows there’s room for improvement and they can’t afford to take Ulster, with Brittany Hogan and Kathryn Dane in form, lightly as they bid to secure a final place.
📸 | Keep going Ulster!
— Ulster Rugby (@UlsterRugby) August 17, 2024
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"They have built really well this season," said the 31-year Ireland international.
"They finished the last Interpros beating Connacht and it looks like they’ve hit the ground running coming into this year.
"They’ve had two really good performances and especially that second-half performance, where a lot of teams might dip off, they seem to pick up."
Ireland star Aoife Wafer is in line for her first appearance of the season after recovering from injury, while Robyn O'Connor and Jemma Farrell move up from the bench to start.
Meanwhile, Ulster scrum coach Eric O’Sullivan says figuring out how to start as they finish is a crucial factor if they are to cause an upset in Belfast.
"I think we have shown that in the last two second halves that we are a great team but we need to do it from the first whistle," said the Ulster front row forward.
"Our bench has brought a great impact so fair play to them, as it's hard to come in and try to change the tempo of the game.
"I'm still trying to figure it out as a player myself why you don't start off the best at times.
"Having clear messages from coaches like myself when we come on will help.
"I think we are doing really good stuff throughout the games, it's about our ability to keep backing it up, sometimes we can switch off after a few phases and that's where we can be caught at times, but we are looking to improve on that."
Vicky Irwin, who kicked two crucial conversions last weekend, is promoted from the bench for Ulster.
While Munster are safely through, Connacht will look to secure a third-place finish and Emer O’Dowd’s charges aim to use the hurt of last week’s collapse to cause the visitors problems.
"We left it behind us, we switched off," admitted scrum coach Doron McHugh, whose side are boosted by the return of Ireland co-captain Edel McMahon, who starts on the bench.
"It was disappointing for the girls, disappointing for ourselves.
"[We need to improve] discipline towards the latter half of the match when they start to get tired, it’s really about concentrating and going about our basics.
"And then not being afraid to show some flash, get the ball moving, get offloads, show Munster we are here to play rugby, that they are coming to the Dexcom and it’s not going to be an easy day for them."
Connacht: Meabh Deely; Ava Ryder, Orla Dixon, Éabha Nic Dhonnacha, Laoise McGonagle; Nicole Fowley (co-capt), Grainne Moran; Ella Burns, Lily Brady, Megan Collis; Karly Tierney, Grace Browne; Faith Oviawe, Beibhinn Gleeson, Shannon Touhey (co-capt).
Replacements: Stacy Hanley, Ellen Connolly, Roisín Maher, Poppy Garvey, Edel McMahon, May Goulding, Sarah Purcell, Hannah Clarke.
Munster: Aoife Corey; Chisom Ugwueru, Lucia Linn, Enya Breen, Alana McInerney; Kate Flannery, Muirne Wall; Siobhan McCarthy, Beth Buttimer, Éilis Cahill; Dorothy Wall, Claire Bennett; Brianna Heylmann, Jane Clohessy, Chloe Pearse (capt).
Replacements: Emma Dunican, Ciara O'Dwyer, Ciara McLoughlin, Aoibhe O' Flynn, Annakate Cournane, Nicole Cronin, Caitriona Finn, Eimear Considine.
Ulster: Lauren Farrell-McCabe; Lucy Thompson, Catherine Martin, Vicky Irwin, Lauren Patterson; Abby Moyles, Kathryn Dane (capt); Megan Brodie, India Daley, Sophie Barrett; Brenda Barr, Cara O'Kane; Moya Hill, Maebh Clenaghan, Brittany Hogan.
Replacements: Christy Hill, Bronach Cassidy, Ava Fannin, Ellen Patterson, Stacey Sloan, Rachael McIlroy, Megan Edwards, Lucinda Kinghan.
Leinster: Robyn O'Connor, Emma Tilly;, Aoife Dalton, Leah Tarpey, Ella Roberts; Jemma Farrell, Jade Gaffney; Linda Djougang, Sarah Delaney, Christy Haney; Ruth Campbell, Eimear Corri; Caoimhe Molloy, Molly Boyne, Hannah O'Connor (capt).
Replacements: Aoife Moore, Kelly Burke, Niamh O'Dowd, Aoife Wafer, Clodagh Dunne, Ailsa Hughes, Nikki Caughey, Anna Doyle.
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