#EnergiaAIL Women’s Division Final – Facts & Figures

Buy Your Ticket Here

– This is the second successive year that an Energia All-Ireland League Men’s and Women’s finals double header is being held at the Aviva Stadium. An attendance of 7,768 watched Terenure College and UL Bohemian win last year’s respective finals

– UL Bohemian lifted the Women’s Division trophy last April for the first time since 2018. They overcame Railway Union 48-38 in a fantastic 14-try shootout which saw player-of-the-match Chisom Ugwueru shine with a hat-trick of tries

– UL Bohs won a record 14th All-Ireland League title in Fiona Hayes’ first season back as their head coach. The former Ireland prop previously captained the Limerick club to back-to-back AIL successes in 2017 and 2018

– That was the last time that the Women’s Division has had back-to-back champions, with Railway Union breaking through as winners in both 2019 and 2022, and Blackrock College also ending their 14-year wait for All-Ireland League glory

– In their two previous AIL final victories, Railway Union beat UL Bohs 13-8 at Energia Park six years ago, and saw off Blackrock 24-18 in Donnybrook in February 2022. They have also lost deciders to Blackrock (December 2022) and UL (2024)

– Sunday will mark Railway’s fifth successive All-Ireland League final appearance, and their first with Mike South as head coach. The 2024/25 campaign also saw John Cronin return to the club in a senior coach role, and Lindsay Peat and Ailsa Hughes operate as player-coaches

– Ireland-capped centre Niamh Byrne captained Railway to All-Ireland League glory in 2019 and 2022. Claire Keohane, Katie O’Dwyer, current international Siobhán McCarthy, Peat, sisters Aoife and Sonia McDermott, and Aimee Clarke all played in the decider six years ago

– Former Ireland prop Peat, the Energia All-Ireland League Women’s Division Player of the Year in 2023/24, is the league’s joint-top try scorer this season with a whopping 23 tries. A regular starter at number 8, she remains a talismanic figure for Railway

– Only Blackrock College winger Maggie Boylan has matched the 44-year-old Peat for tries and points in the current campaign. Impressive young prop Eilís Cahill (23) has topped the scoring charts for UL Bohs with 17 tries

– UL Bohs captain Chloe Pearse, another Ireland-capped player who will grace the Aviva Stadium pitch this weekend, continues to have a huge influence, scoring a try in their 15-12 comeback win over Blackrock at the semi-final stage a fortnight ago

– Stalwart number 8 Pearse, who is set to battle it out again with her opposite number Peat, and her partner Clodagh O’Halloran are two of the five players from Bohs’ 2018 squad who are still involved. The others are Stephanie Nunan, Rachel Allen, and Nicole Cronin

– UL Bohemian topped the table and regained the league silverware last season after losing just one game out of 17. Railway are aiming to complete an unbeaten league run on Sunday, with their 37-24 semi-final win over Old Belvedere coming on the back of a perfect 18 straight victories during the regular season

– South’s charges have reached the final with the league’s best attacking and defensive records. They have tallied up 1008 points in 19 outings, with an average of 53 points scored per match. It would have been higher but for two walkovers against Galwegians and Suttonians

– UL Bohs also had two walkover results, finishing the campaign with a total of 16 wins. Their points scored total stands at 893, making for an average of 47 points. UL conceded an average of just under nine points per game, while Railway’s was only 6.5

– UL’s only two defeats this season have come against Railway, both by narrow margins. A last-gasp Claire Boles try denied them in a 19-18 second round loss at Annacotty, while the Sandymount-based outfit prevailed 17-10 at home when the teams met in mid-March

– Railway have a strong Connacht connection, with ex-Galwegians and Connacht captain Mary Healy, who started the semi-final at scrum half, joining fellow Galwegians Rhiann Heery and Emily Gavin, Connacht prop Megan Collis, and Sligo natives Poppy Garvey and the McDermott siblings

– UL Bohs’ semi-final squad contained 14 players who saw action during last year’s final. However, full-back Aoife Corey and back rower Jane Clohessy are set to miss the rematch with Railway as they have earned their first Ireland call-ups for the Guinness Women’s Six Nations final round trip to Scotland

– Along with bringing in talented young Connacht backs Clara Barrett, Laoise McGonagle, and Éabha Nic Dhonnacha in recent seasons, the Red Robins have given regular AIL exposure to promising Munster talents like Gráinne Burke, Aoibheann Hahessy, Lucia Linn, and Aoibhe O’Flynn

– Teenagers Caitríona Finn (18) and Beth Buttimer (19) have gone from playing with Munster, Bohs, and the Clovers this season to making Ireland’s extended squad for the 2025 Six Nations

– Railway have also given youth its fling this season with teenage full-back Caoimhe McCormack (14 tries) and out-half Hannah Scanlan (63 points) – two products of the strong Leinster Under-18 pathway – really stepping up to the mark

Keep up to date with all the latest news in our dedicated website hub at www.irishrugby.ie/energiaail, and follow #EnergiaAIL on social media channels.