PwC Under-18 Girls Interpros – Round 3 Previews

The match-ups for finals day in the PwC Under-18 Girls Interprovincial Championship have already been decided, but there is still plenty to play for in the last group fixtures on Saturday afternoon.

PwC Under-18 Girls Interpros: Standings & Top Scorers After Round 2

Team	Pld	W	D	L	PF	PA	Diff	TF	TA	TB	LB	Points
LEINSTER	2	2	0	0	55	22	+33	9	4	1	0	9
CONNACHT	2	2	0	0	34	12	+22	6	2	1	0	9
MUNSTER	2	0	0	2	20	29	-9	4	5	0	2	2
ULSTER	2	0	0	2	14	60	-46	2	10	0	0	0

PWC UNDER-18 GIRLS INTERPROVINCIAL CHAMPIONSHIP – ROUND 3:

Saturday, August 23 –

CONNACHT U-18 GIRLS (2nd) v LEINSTER U-18 GIRLS (1st), Galway Corinthians RFC, 12.15pm

Already assured of their final places, Connacht and Leinster have unsurprisingly both made wholesale changes for this meeting in Galway, as both coaches give opportunities to players who have not started in recent weeks.

Tuam/Oughterard lock Juno Hayes is the only player retained from the Connacht team that won 24-7 against Ulster. Millie Ager, Sharron Thornton, Rhea Sestak, and Westport duo Holly Horkan and Orla Palasz are all promoted from the bench to join her in the pack.

Buccaneers’ Sally Fleming and Claremorris scrum half Maebh Smith are also bumped up to start together at half-back, while Ballinasloe pair Mya Russell and Tara Power form a fresh back-three combination with Katie Corcoran from Claremorris.

Carrick-on-Shannon’s Julianne Moore swaps the number 23 jersey for the number 13 shirt, joining Westport’s Leah McNamara in midfield. Loughrea’s Rhea Sestak has been rewarded for her impactful cameo in the Ulster game with a start in the number 8 position.

Meanwhile, out-half Sophia White, the Interprovincial Championship’s joint-top points scorer, is the only starter backing up from last Saturday’s dramatic late 19-15 victory over Munster at Energia Park.

Leinster head coach Derek Maybury welcomes backs Jessica Briody, Pearl Tyner, Jayne Charles, and Erin McFadden from injury. Balbriggan back rower McFadden will captain the side from number 8.

She is one of the players who were involved in Leinster’s title-winning campaign last year, and Ireland Under-18 international Diana Izekor, who comes in to start at outside centre, is another one of those.

Tyner also joins her Arklow club-mate White, the scorer of 15 points in the first two rounds, in the back-line. Cill Dara’s Molly Noons steps up to make her U-18 debut for the province at blindside flanker, following in the footsteps of her sister Kate, an Ireland U-18 international.

CONNACHT U-18 GIRLS: Mya Russell (Ballinasloe RFC); Tara Power (Ballinasloe RFC), Julianne Moore (Carrick-on-Shannon RFC), Leah McNamara (Westport RFC), Katie Corcoran (Claremorris RFC); Sally Fleming (Buccaneers RFC), Maebh Smith (Claremorris RFC); Holly Horkan (Westport RFC), Millie Ager (Claremorris RFC), Sharron Thornton (Tuam/Oughterard RFC), Orla Palasz (Westport RFC), Juno Hayes (Tuam/Oughterard RFC), Losalia Atonio (Tuam/Oughterard RFC), Poppy Tunney Ware (Westport RFC), Rhea Sestak (Loughrea RFC).

Replacements: Isabel Lynott (Ballina RFC), Anna McDermott (Ballinasloe RFC), Ciara Sheridan (Westport RFC), Róise Ní Scanláin (Tuam/Oughterard RFC), Aoibhinn Lyons (Westport RFC), Mia White (Creggs RFC), Ruth Conway (Westport RFC), Esther Albert (Ballinasloe RFC).

LEINSTER U-18 GIRLS: Sloane Rangitaawa (Wicklow RFC); Isabella Larkin (Longford RFC), Diana Izekor (Longford RFC), Pearl Tyner (Arklow RFC), Jessica Briody (Mullingar RFC); Sophia White (Arklow RFC), Maebh Ní Cholla (Tullamore RFC); Coumba Sow (Clontarf FC), Sophie O’Mahony (Greystones RFC), Grace Cosgrove (Dundalk RFC), Eimear Duffy (Ardee RFC), Ruby Osumah (Tullamore RFC), Molly Noons (Cill Dara RFC), Alex O’Shea (MU Barnhall RFC), Erin McFadden (Balbriggan RFC) (capt).

Replacements: Bobbi Cahill (Enniscorthy RFC), Éabha O’Mahony (Mullingar RFC), Milita Valteryte (Dundalk RFC), Orlagh O’Brien (Mullingar RFC), Emma O’Rourke (Navan RFC), Jade Carroll (Arklow RFC), Gráinne Cleary (Mullingar RFC), Jayne Charles (Mullingar RFC).

ULSTER U-18 GIRLS (4th) v MUNSTER U-18 GIRLS (3rd), Affidea Stadium, 1pm

In the curtain raiser for Saturday’s double header at Affidea Stadium, the Ulster Under-18 Girls will be chasing their first win of the campaign after two defeats on the road to Leinster and Connacht respectively.

Ulster co-captains Caitlin Crowe and Olivia McKinley bring Ireland U-18 experience to their roles, with the latter scoring her province’s only two tries so far. Head coach Colm Finnegan has made ten changes to the side that lost 24-7 to Connacht.

Katelyn Magee and Eunice Adesanya are brought in on either wing, Omagh Accies’ Emily Irwin joins Drung native Crowe (pictured below) in the centre, and Ireland U-18 scrum half Amy McConkey will be partnered by Grace Bracken at half-back.

Enniskillen forwards Orlaith Maguire and Jessica Kingston feature in the tight five, with Alanna Scullion and Alanna Corcoran Cusack added to the front row.

Cooke’s Maisie Bowden, who lined out at blindside flanker in the opening round against Munster, returns to the starting line-up but in the number 8 position, and Alana Eadie from Banbridge is another new addition to the back row.

Meanwhile, as they bid to bounce back from two narrow defeats, Munster’s selection for their third round trip to Befast has three personnel changes in the back-line, and two up front.

Clonakilty starlet Lani O’Donovan, who played for Ireland at the U-18 Women’s Six Nations Festival earlier this year, comes in at out-half. Her club-mate Jo McCaughey moves to the centre where she links up with Lily Byrne, Munster’s captain and leading try scorer with two.

Bruff’s Sophie O’Riordan replaces Julie Finn at scrum half, and in the forwards, the young Reds will line out with Kanturk prop Alice Buckley, the daughter of former Munster and Ireland prop Tony, at tighthead, and Scariff’s Laura Danaher in the engine room.

The Munster U-18 Girls were 17-5 winners over Ulster in last year’s 3rd-4th place play-off, a game in which current players Niamh O’Mahony and Cailinn O’Brien (pictured below) were try scorers. Ulster had won 17-12 the previous week in Cork, with McKinley on the scoresheet.

ULSTER U-18 GIRLS: Aoibhín Smith (Virginia RFC); Katelyn Magee (Enniskillen RFC), Caitlin Crowe (Cavan/Virginia RFC) (co-capt), Emily Irwin (Omagh Accies RFC), Eunice Adesanya (Virginia RFC); Grace Bracken (Clogher Valley RFC/Enniskillen RFC), Amy McConkey (Cooke RFC); Orlaith Maguire (Enniskillen RFC), Alanna Scullion (Cooke RFC), Alanna Corcoran Cusack (Virginia RFC), Olivia McKinley (Banbridge RFC) (co-capt), Jessica Kingston (Enniskillen RFC), Elinor van Lil (Virginia RFC), Alana Eadie (Banbridge RFC), Maisie Bowden (Cooke RFC).

Replacements: Ava Boyle (City of Derry RFC), Alice Seaney (Enniskillen RFC), Fianche Higgins (Cavan/Virginia RFC), Darcey Smith (Virginia RFC), Myah Vance (Virginia RFC), Méabh Hull (Malone RFC), Brooke Schoenfeldt (Malone RFC), Erin Robinson (Ballymena RFC).

MUNSTER U-18 GIRLS: Maria O’Donovan (Clonakilty RFC); Abi Kelly (Ennis RFC), Jo McCaughey (Clonakilty RFC), Lily Byrne (Dolphin RFC) (capt), Cora Miller (Waterpark RFC); Lani O’Donovan (Clonakilty RFC), Sophie O’Riordan (Bruff RFC); Aoife Martin (Ennis RFC), Ciara O’Driscoll (Clonakilty RFC), Alice Buckley (Kanturk RFC), Lisa O’Mahony (Ballincollig RFC), Laura Danaher (Scariff RFC), Elena O’Brien (Midleton RFC), Cailinn O’Brien (Garryowen FC), Eliza Wiley Murphy (Scariff RFC).

Replacements: Erin Ridgway (Kinsale RFC/Dolphin RFC), Maya McMahon (Clonakilty RFC), Aine O’Rourke (Mallow RFC), Orlaith Grimes (Shannon RFC), Kiera Murphy (Dolphin RFC), Julie Finn (Clonakilty RFC), Niamh O’Mahony (Ballincollig RFC), Alice O’Donovan (Bantry Bay RFC).

PWC UNDER-18 GIRLS INTERPROVINCIAL CHAMPIONSHIP RESULTS/FIXTURES –

Sunday, August 10 –

Munster 5 Connacht 10, Virgin Media Park

Leinster 36 Ulster 7, Energia Park

Saturday, August 16 –

Connacht 24 Ulster 7, Galway Corinthians RFC

Leinster 19 Munster 15, Energia Park

Saturday, August 23 –

Connacht v Leinster, Galway Corinthians RFC, 12.15pm

Ulster v Munster, Affidea Stadium, 1pm

Saturday, August 30 –

3rd/4th Place Play-Off, Wanderers FC, 1pm

Final, Wanderers FC, 2.45pm