Leinster lift Irish title

The Irish Interpros see the top players in Ireland battle it out in the four-team competition with Leinster and Munster being the leading sides in recent years.

Ger Rea of Munster put the first points on the board with a well-struck penalty kick. The first break of the day came on 10 minutes, with a great move from the back of the scrum which saw number 8 Sharon Lynch link with scrum half Tania Rosser to create an overlap, but the pass to winger Aine Ni Chathain did not go to hand.

Leinster certainly worked on the foundations they had laid down in previous games, showcasing their flare and creativity. Munster relied much more on their forwards.

Ultimately, defending champions Munster were in Leinster territory for the entire first half, being aided by steely grit and determination, accompanied by a strong gale backing them.

Despite the territory and pressure inflicted on the Leinster side, the hosts were crucially not able to convert it to points on the board.

Leinster, on one of their few occasions in the Munster half, set up a fantastic maul from a lineout which saw captain Marie Louise Reilly secure the opening try of the game. Out-half Nora Stapleton stepped up to land a terrific conversion against the strong wind.

Gary Walsh's Munster team, however, bounced straight back from that seven-point concession and Leinster did well to steal two important lineouts on their own 22.

However, Munster centre Rea fired home a penalty from in front of the posts to give them some reward for the amount of pressure they applied.

The immediate response from the girls in blue was to maul up close to the home line. A yellow card for Munster loosehed prop Fiona Hayes resulted in Leinster going for touch from the penalty.

The maul took the visitors close and having opted for a scrum, a knock on at the back from Lynch robbed them of a certain try.

The handling errors by both teams were largely due to the difficult weather conditions, leading to a nail-biting first half which ended 7-6 in Leinster's favour.

The second period saw the departure of gale force winds and a rejuvenated Leinster took full advantage. They kept it in the tight initially and a pushover effort allowed flanker Paula Fitzpatrick to touch down and give the visitors some breathing space at 14-6.

The introduction of Grand Slam star Niamh Briggs, who has been battling an injury, steadied Munster, but the hosts' young back-line lacked the experience to contain Leinster's collective power and intelligence on the ball.

The Leinster squad showcased their talents when making a crucial turnover just as Munster looked at their most dangerous.

A turnover from a scrum saw Lynch making a huge break, developing an overlap for the back-line which resulted in a magnificent team try scored and converted by Stapleton.

With Leinster down to 13 players - Reilly and fellow forward Sophie Spence saw yellow - Munster managed to create overlaps, but they seemed to run out of steam which led to some bad decision making.

Rob Forbes' Leinster outfit had the game within their grasp and deservedly saw out their third victory of the series to complete a clean sweep, with Lynch, Fiona Coghlan and Spence all exerting influence during the title decider.

Number 10 Stapleton kicked superbly on the day, while centre Jenny Murphy continued to showcase her strength in attack and defence and Rosser's skill at producing quick ball really impacted on the final result.

Report thanks toirishrugby.ie