Full Time in Energia Park where it has finished 26-19 to Leinster against Munster in the penultimate game of this summer’s Women’s Interpros Series, the home side booking their spot in next week’s Interpro's final where they will face off against today’s opponents again.

The home side survived a late Munster flurry to hold out for the win, playing 20 minutes of today’s match reduced to 14 players due to yellow cards being shown to Ruth Campbell and then Molly Byrne in the 64^th minute.

It was an incredibly physical affair, as both sides looked to use the physicality of their pack to power over the gain-line. Munster’s Maeve Og O’Leary and Deirbhle Nic an Bhaird epitomised this numerous times throughout the opening 40 minutes, running hard lines in attack and coming up with big physical stops in defence.

It was the visitors and Maeve Og O’Leary who broke the deadlock in the 8^th minute, the flanker running an excellent support line to the left of prop Fiona Reidy who offloaded in the tackle to set Og O’Leary up for an easy run-in try. It was a perfect line from the young flanker, who left the scrambling Leinster defence no hope of catching her.

Leinster responded with a try of their own just nine minutes later after a strong spell of possession. After conceding the early try, the Leinster pack marched up the pitch, going through several phases before Lisa Callan powered her way over the Munster try line. Callan used her power to great effect, and there could be no stopping the hooker from such short range. Hannah O’Connor’s conversion levelled the scoring halfway through the first half.

Just five minutes later, it was Leinster who struck again in dramatic fashion to take the lead for the first time in this game, winger Aimee Clarke showing great skill and perseverance to score an excellent try in the corner. Clarke picked up the ball on the right wing following an excellent offload from Aoife Dalton and fired the afterburners to make a break for the corner. Despite a brave last-ditch effort from Munster’s Aoife Corey to deny the Leinster winger, her attempted tap-tackle wasn’t enough to halt Clarke.

Munster responded well and brought the scores level with a try from Dorothy Wall following a successful lineout maul from 20 metres out, a reoccurring theme in this opening half. Following the throw from Deirbhle Nic an Bhaird, Wall gathered the ball and controlled the maul all the way to the line. After the maul was initially brought down, the Munster lock picked up the ball at the base of the ruck and powered over the Leinster try-line.

It was a bad spell from the home side, who then lost Ruth Campbell to a yellow card in the 37^th minute following a trip on Munster’s Nic an Bhaird following a tap-and-go penalty.

Leinster survived the sin-bin period without conceding and were back to a full-15 with a dangerous scrum deep inside the Munster half following a knock on from Aoife Corey on her own five metre line. Leinster’s pack dominated this scrum, and scrum-half Katie Whelan made a dangerous run off the base of the set-piece, almost crossing the line herself.

From the resulting phases, Leinster’s Linda Djougang picked up the ball at the base of the ruck and powered over the Munster try-line to give her side the lead again in this match. A wonderful curling conversion from Dannah O’Brien put Leinster in a commanding position in this game.

Things got even better for Leinster in the 57^th minute after Ruth Campbell made amends for her earlier yellow card with a wonderful try, owing credit to her teammate Aoife Dalton for a brilliant run. Dalton broke several tackles on the half-way line and made a storming run through the Munster defence before offloading to Campbell who ran a brilliant support line; it was an easy run-in for the second row, and Leinster found themselves with a 14-point lead with just 20 minutes to play.

All was not lost for Munster, however, as they were handed a lifeline in the 64^th minute when Leinster were reduced to 14 players, penalised for repeated infringements of the offside rule at the breakdown. Molly Boyne was shown the yellow card, the most recent offender. Following the penalty and yellow card on the Leinster five-metre line, Munster immediately made their numbers advantage count as the forward pack looked to capitalise on their advantage in the forwards.

After three phases of pick and go drives and yet another dominant lineout, Dorothy Wall picked up the ball and drove through the Leinster defence, stretching over the line to score her second try of this game. A conversion from Nicole Cronin made it a 7-point game with just over ten minutes to play, it really was anybody’s game.

Leinster would go on to hold out for the win, making great use of their time management skills. Munster refused to go down without a fight, and could have stolen a late try to level the game, but they just fell short this week. They will have the chance to get revenge in next week’s final as we have a replay of this afternoon’s match.