Interprovincial Round-Up

The Munster women’s side continued their good form as all four of the underage Munster representative teams were in action last week as the Interprovincial series continued.

The Munster Women's team, sponsored by Keanes Jewellers, are within reach of the Interprovincial title after a hard-fought 7-0 win over Leinster at Ashbourne RFC.

The match's only try came midway through the first half on the back of a terrific line-out maul from Munster. Openside flanker Ciara Griffin, whose work-rate throughout the match was immense, secured the throw, with back-row colleague and Ireland international Laura Guest dotting down. Outside centre Ger Rea converted from a tricky angle.

Leah Barbour and Leah Lyons were both yellow-carded for Munster in the second half but heroic defence kept Leinster at bay with the Women's team yet to concede a point in the Interprovincial Series.

Connacht were the opponents in all four underage games with Munster winning three, although the sole defeat came for the much-fancied Under 20s at Thomond Park on Friday night.

The Munster Under 18 Schools and Clubs sides both recorded impressive away victories at The Sportsground in their Interprovincial openers.

After their disappointing opening day defeat by Leinster, the Munster Under 19s enjoyed a convincing 30-10 win over Connacht at Clifford Park on Saturday.

Last week’s action kicked off on Wednesday as the Munster Under 18 Schools side, sponsored by Trend Micro, got their Interprovincial campaign underway in Galway with a 24-3 win.

Opponents Connacht, who had lost to Ulster in their opener, trailed 6-3 at the break with Munster Schools captain Bill Johnston kicking two penalties.

It was in the final quarter of the game that Munster took control with their pack outstanding, particularly prop James Kendrick.

Centre Alex McHenry and winger Calvin Nash scored two excellent tries in the final ten minutes to seal the win.

Johnston converted one and also added two second half penalties to ensure an opening day win for the Schools selection.

The sole defeat of the week came on Friday as the Under 20s, sponsored by GxP Systems, were stunned by Connacht at Thomond Park as they fell to a 13-10 loss.

Munster started poorly and trailed 7-3 at the break with a Gearóid Lyons penalty their only score of the opening 40 minutes.

They made an excellent start to the second half, however, and led 10-7 after Cork Con's Glen Stokes scored their only try on 45 minutes with Lyons converting.

Connacht refused to give in, however, and two Conor Lowndes penalties gave the Westerners the win.

The Munster Under 18s Clubs side, sponsored by Trend Micro, started their Interprovincial campaign with a superb 23-17 win at the Sportsground.

Skibbereen out-half Liam Coombes scored a try, two conversion and three penalties with Midleton's Robert Carey scoring the first try in the opening half.

The win was built on a very solid foundation laid by a dominant scrum with the front-row trio of Peter Kelleher, Shane Bush and Ian McCarthy performing excellently.

Coombes was another stand-out performer and scored 18 points but this was a real team performance with the centre partnership of David McCarthy and Jack Quilter also impressing.

Munster led 13-5 at the break thanks to Carey's try, converted by Coombes, with the Skibbereen man adding a further two penalties to give his side an eight-point cushion.

Connacht came back strongly in the second half but Coombes touched down a converted try of his own and another penalty to seal a hard-earned win.

An excellent first half performance paved the way for the Munster Under 19s, sponsored by Star Elm Frames, to record a comprehensive 30-10 win over Connacht at Clifford Park in the final game of the weekend.

Munster had this game wrapped up by half-time with tries from James O'Connor, Dan Walsh and Joe White with Paul Downes converting two of the tries and also kicking a penalty.

Connacht did score a try in the first half but Munster added to their 22-7 interval lead in the second half with Ben Betts scoring a fourth try and Downes kicking another penalty.

The Munster pack were superb in the scrum and the line-out with some excellent defence pressuring Connacht into mistakes that were clinically punished.

Winger Joe White and wing forward Dan Walsh were particularly impressive for Munster after an excellent all-round team performance.

This week’s action begins on Friday night as the Munster Under 20s look to bounce back in their clash with Ulster at Dooradoyle (ko 7pm).

The other four sides are in action on Saturday with the Munster Women's side hoping to secure the Interprovincial title against Connacht at Tralee Rugby Club (ko 2:30pm).

The Munster Under 19s ending their campaign with a home tie against Ulster at the Mardyke in Cork (ko 2pm).

The Munster Under 18s Clubs and Schools both face Ulster away at the Kingspan Stadium with the Clubs side kicking off at 1pm and the Schools at 3:30pm.