MUNSTER suffered a 33-14 loss to Leinster in the Vodafone Women’s Interprovincial Championship Final at Cork’s Musgrave Park on Saturday (September 2), ending the side’s bid for a third championship title on the trot.
A brilliant individual effort from Derbhile Nic a Bháird and Chloe Pearse’s powerful effort, both converted by Nicole Cronin, had twice given Munster the lead in the opening half.
A penalty try earned by the Leinster scrum and a Leah Tarpey score on the stroke of half time saw Leinster twice peg Munster back and the teams tied, 14 points apiece, at the interval.
Munster had finished the half with 14 players after Róisín Ormond was sin-binned.
The second half belonged entirely to Leinster as Tarpey scored her second and they used their powerful scrum to score a fourth try before Elise O’Byrne-White rounded off the win late on.
Munster hold the record for Interpro Championship wins by a comfortable margin at 15, with new champions Leinster trailing behind at seven. Ulster sit on two previous wins in 1999 and 2000, while Connacht have yet to claim a championship title win.
