The Combined Provinces have made it three wins from three in a battling performance over the Welsh Development XV this evening in Kingspan Stadium.

Deirbhile Nic a Bhaird crossed for a first half try to give them the advantage, but further tries by Kayla Waldron and Aoife Wafer ensured Greg McWilliams side would take the win.

Next up for them is a trip to Scotland to meet the Thistles, with the chance of a clean sweep on the cards, it bodes well for development of the squad with the six nations on the horizon.

The provinces found themselves up against the pressure early on, the Welsh kicked for touch off a penalty and their lineout asked early questions of the Irish defence, Amelia Tutt broke through but passed straight to Aoife Doyle killing the Welsh move, allowing Dannah  O’Brien to kick clear after the ruck formed.

Wales kept on the attack but nothing would materialise, after a scrum for the hosts they got their first taste of attacking the Welsh line, Aoife Doyle gathering wide and she used her pace and dancing footwork to race down the right wing but was hauled down on her approach, they kept working the phases, Molly Scuffil-McCabe kicked in behind but the Welsh gathered and had the Irish on the defensive foot.

Chances were few and far between as the minutes ticked by with the Irish once again finding themselves defending but having an answer for the Welsh attack, Deirbhile Nic a Bhaird spot a gap in the Wales line and picked and went from the back of the ruck with an amazing counter attack, she was hauled down and an infringement in the Irish buildup saw a penalty awarded for the visitors.

Nic a Bhaird got the Provinces into scoring range with that move and they still had the territory and after phase after phase of offence, she got over for the games opening try in the 27th minute, a score to give the hosts confidence as O’Brien made it the full seven off the tee.

For the remainder of the half it was fast and frantic but the provinces held firm in defence especially late on as the Welsh were held up short and also O’Brien did well to stop them getting over in the corner, but Nic a Bhaird found herself in the bin, they remained ahead by the full seven however at the break.

Again the second half started like the opening 40, tight and energy sapping with the Irish side having to move around players to fill the gap left behind by the yellow card, they built a great attack but the only early chance of points fell to O’Brien opting for the posts from a penalty, which just drew left and wide.

Despite missing the penalty the Irish kept on the front foot, back to a full 15 they also rang the changes, Meabh Deely made some direct runs on the right wing while Maeve Og O’Leary and Claire Bennett added an extra spark in their forward line.

While they had a host of fresh faces on the field of play, it was a player who started from the off that got their second try on the hour mark, Kayla Waldron with a beautiful side step to create a gap before powering over to put them 12-0 ahead as O’Brien just missed the conversion.

The provinces were motoring by that stage and finished the tie with a flurry, Nic a Bhaird once again showing how valuable she can be at creating breaks after carving open the Welsh line, this set the Irish up nicely for an attack, substitute Aoife Wafer put on the afterburners with a direct run past the Welsh line for a third try. O’Brien had it at 19-0 having found the mark.

It was a defensive masterclass at the end to ensure the Welsh never got points on the board, the Irish forwards once again holding them up for the grounding, at once they went wide Deely did well to tackle the Welsh winger into touch to stop any chance of a consolation score.