Leinster recorded an empathic opening victory in the Vodafone Women’s Interprovincial Championship overcoming Connacht in Energia Park this afternoon.

It was a controlled commanding performance by Leinster in the end as they managed to take the chances but Connacht did give them a test which does not reflect on the scoreboard.

Leinster started well and Anna Doyle had a great chance down the touchline but ran out of space and was taken into touch, the pressure remained and Ailsa Hughes looked to have the games opening score but she knocked the ball on in the build up to getting over and touching down.

Alison Coleman had the next big chance for Leinster but Ava Ryder hit well to wrap her into touch and prevent the danger, however for Coleman it would be her last act as she hobbled off with injury.

The hosts were certainly in control of possession and were thwarted at every step by Connacht in the pursuit of a score while the visitors had little chances of their own to exploit and create scoring chances.

It took until a little while after the half hour mark for the games opening score, Dannah O’Brien made a great drive to be tackled just shy of the line, Leinster drove short to try and use their forwards to get the opening try, Hughes instead opted to go out to O’Brien who offloaded to Ella Roberts out wife and the Wicklow Woman made no mistake in getting over for the try, O’Brien making it a 7-0 lead with the conversion after 34 minutes.

Their second try arrived just two minutes later, almost out of nowhere as they overturned possession on their own ten metre line, Hughes picked and went and spotted Doyle free out wide and looped a pass toward the winger, she cut inside evading two tacklers before crossing the whitewash under the posts, O’Brien two from two off the tee on her debut to double the advantage.

Connacht would get on the board just before the end of the half, Nicole Fowley with a perfectly struck penalty to make it an eleven point game as the sides went into the interval.

The visitors started brighter after the restart, putting Leinster back into their own half before the hosts were penalised at the breakdown giving Fowley a chance at goal, her strike was good but just missed the mark as Leinster remained 11 points clear.

Back came Leinster and they made ground down into the visitors half but a halt in play saw both Hughes and Clare Gorman needing treatment as both were forced off with injury, they kept pressing in search of another score and a clever kick in behind by O’Brien saw the bounce elude the on rushing Connacht defender and into the hands of Elise O’Byrne White who got over for the third try. Only on the field a matter of minutes she made her contribution, as O’Brien missed the conversion to move them 19-3 clear after 48 minutes.

Momentum was with Leinster and after kicking a penalty into touch they showed their strong lineout play to get their fourth try, the maul working wonders to give them the chance to get over and after a couple of phases Jenny Murphy made the drive to get over for the bonus point try, O’Brien adding the extras as Leinster started to put the game beyond doubt.

The Western province were always in the game battling hard to try and get a score against a solid Leinster defence, they laid siege to the Leinster line as we entered the final quarter of play, several phases of trying to get over saw them move more central and Fowley spotted Orla Dixon wide and played a beautiful cross field kick to put her in for their first try. Fowley landed the conversion to reduce the deficit to 26-10.

Another impactful substitution off the bench saw Leinster grab a fifth try before the end of play, another clinical move with precise passing worked its way wide for Katie Whelan to gather and touch down in he corner.

It was not over yet for Leinster as they kept the pressure on with Jenny Murphy getting her brace off a powerful drive at the death to complete an emphatic result for the province, Hannah O'Connor stepped up to convert and added the extras.