Deely: Playing With Your Province Is Really Special

Connacht’s home form was particularly impressive last year, with Deely touching down twice in a famous 18-17 win over Leinster, and Ava Ryder also bagged a brace of tries in their 29-24 bonus point victory over Ulster.

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However, they missed out on a place in the final, ending the round robin stage two points behind both Leinster and Munster, and a 36-14 play-off defeat to Ulster was a real sting in the tail.

With Emer O’Dowd stepping up as head coach and Ireland co-captain Edel McMahon joining a young set of forwards, Connacht’s current squad are striving for more consistency on their return to Interprovincial action.

As opening fixtures go, they do not come much tougher than playing Leinster, the defending champions, at Energia Park (tickets are available here), but full-back Deely is keen to have another crack at the Blues and hopefully show the fruits of their summer labour.

“Getting to go home and play with your province is a really special thing, because we spend so much time in camp, and with club, and the province is only for a few months of the year,” said Deely, the 13-times capped Ireland international.

“You’ve really got to take it while you have it, so it’s an exciting time. Leinster first in Energia Park, a tough one to start with but we’ll go for it.

“Last year we beat them which was such an incredible day down in the Sportsground. The support and the crowd that was there really egged us on.

“So, I think this weekend Leinster will be really all guns blazing because they know that we got them last year. It’s always different on away soil as well, it will be a tough contest.”

Connacht won both the Women’s 15s and Sevens Interprovincial titles at Under-18 level last season, and O’Dowd has included a number of those talented teenagers in her senior group, including Sarah Purcell and Ailish Quinn, who has captained the Ireland U-18s.

Deely herself experienced Interprovincial glory with the Connacht U-18s back in 2018, alongside fellow Ballinasloe natives Béibhinn Parsons and Aoibheann Reilly, before making her senior debut for the province the following year at just 18.

Now 23, the Trinity College Geoscience graduate is looking forward to playing with the current U-18 starlets, acknowledging what a ‘good job Emer has done in bringing the younger girls in and developing them’.

Like the other provinces, there has been some player turnover from last year, while injuries to scrum half Reilly (ACL) and the versatile Kayla Waldron (tibia-fibula fracture) have robbed the westerners of two of their best players from the 2023 Championship.

McMahon’s availability is a big boost – she last played for her home province in 2019 – and the forwards are also strengthened by the presence of Old Belvedere captain Lesley Ring, and 22-year-old Ireland-capped prop Megan Collis, who has switched across from Leinster.

Led by Balla woman O’Dowd, Connacht’s new-look coaching team features two former provincial stars in Gavin Duffy (skills coach) and Alison Miller (backs coach), while another ex-Ireland international, Larissa Muldoon, has done a lot of very good work as the Women’s National Talent Squad coach for the province.

Asked about Duffy’s input ahead of Saturday’s clash with Leinster (kick-off 4.45pm – live on TG4), Deely said: “Gavin is new this year, it’s the first time that I’ve dealt with him. He’s been a really good addition. He brings a wealth of experience.

“He is our attack coach so he’s got a lot of things up his sleeve for us. He has also played full-back which is kind of helpful for me as well. It’s great to have him involved.”

The four-match Interprovincial series, which concludes with the August 31 finals day at Kingspan Stadium, will give players a good build-up leading into the early stages of the new season, with Deely and her Ireland team-mates back in camp soon after.

The Ireland Women’s team return to the home of Ulster Rugby for a a special Test match against Australia, on Saturday, September 14, that will kick off Irish Rugby’s 150th Anniversary celebrations. It is part of their preparations for their WXV1 debut in Canada just two weeks later.

Hitting form in the Interpros, both individually and collectively, will be the target, and Deely reckons Connacht, who are jointly captained by Nicole Fowley and Shannon Touhey, are more than capable of building on last year’s two home triumphs.

They will want to be within reach of a top two finish by the time they host Munster in their only home game on Saturday, August 24. More consistency in their performances across the four match days is a must.

“It didn’t fare too well for us last year. We beat Leinster and Ulster in the opening rounds and then we ended up in fourth, because we played the 3rd-4th place play-off,” explained Deely.

“It is great to get an extra game in there, but sometimes it can be cruel as well like it did to us. We had two wins out of three in the pool rounds, but then we lost the play-off to Ulster.

“I suppose for us this year we’ve got to look at keeping the foot on the gas for the whole tournament. We started off really well last year, but kind of fell off it, I think, towards the end.

“So, it’s good to have that longevity in that there’s four games and four rounds, but we’ve got to step up to that challenge this year.”