Vodafone Women’s Interpros: 3rd-4th Place Play-Off – Connacht v Ulster Preview
Connacht flanker Beibhinn Gleeson gets her pass away under pressure from Ulster's Niamh Marley ©INPHO/Laszlo Geczo
It has been one win apiece in the 3rd-4th place play-off over the last couple of years, so Connacht and Ulster will be itching to show who is the stronger side on current form at Energia Park on Saturday.
VODAFONE WOMEN’S INTERPROVINCIAL CHAMPIONSHIP 3RD-4TH PLACE PLAY-OFF:
Saturday, August 30 –
CONNACHT (3rd) v ULSTER (4th), Energia Park, 2pm (live on Spórt TG4 YouTube Channel)
Match Programme – Vodafone Women’s Interprovincial Championship Finals Day
Vodafone Women’s Interpros: Player Rankings – Top Tens After Round 3
Recent Interprovincial Form: Connacht: LWLWL; Ulster: LLLLL
2025/26 Interprovincial Championship Top Scorers: Connacht – Points: Faith Oviawe 10; Tries: Faith Oviawe 2; Ulster – Points: Siobhán Sheerin 25; Tries: Siobhán Sheerin 3
Last Five Meetings: 2023: Connacht 29 Ulster 24, the Sportsground; 3rd-4th Place Play-Off: Connacht 14 Ulster 36, Musgrave Park; 2024: Ulster 25 Connacht 25, Kingspan Stadium; 3rd-4th Place Play-Off: Ulster 19 Connacht 33, Kingspan Stadium; 2025: Connacht 12 Ulster 7, Dexcom Stadium
| Team | Pld | W | D | L | PF | PA | Diff | TF | TA | TB | LB | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MUNSTER | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 115 | 44 | +71 | 19 | 8 | 3 | 0 | 15 |
| LEINSTER | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 76 | 66 | +10 | 14 | 10 | 2 | 0 | 10 |
| CONNACHT | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 29 | 68 | -39 | 5 | 12 | 0 | 1 | 5 |
| ULSTER | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 45 | 87 | -42 | 7 | 15 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
Players To Watch Out For: Connacht: Roisin Maher – It has definitely been a Championship to remember for young tighthead prop Maher, who has scored a match-winning try and got 146 minutes under her belt. As well as her set-piece work, the Ireland Under-20 forward has impressed with 31 carries and 44 attacking ruck arrivals.
Ulster: Moya Hill – Enniskillen flanker Hill has been a real workhorse as the Interpros’ leading tackler after three rounds with 42 successful tackles. Two of them have been dominant hits, and she has only missed six overall. Her handsome contribution to Ulster’s efforts up front have included 19 carries for 87 metres made.
Pre-Match Views – Emer O’Dowd (Connacht): “This is our ‘final’, this is where we are. It has taken a couple of days because mentally we were so down after the Leinster game. We’ve put an awful lot into it as coaches, the players have put an awful lot into it all summer.
“But we really did target that game as going to be, ‘we’re in it’, and we had a huge chance to do it as well. We had a huge chance to make a final, but listen, this is our final, I know it is third-fourth, but it’s our final on Saturday and we have a job to do and we have to go out and do it.
“I think we’ve used nearly 29 players over the course of the Interpros, and if you look around the room up there, we probably won’t be the same team this time next year. It’d be a nice way to finish it with a win, and I truly believe we will.”
Ciara Fitzsimons (Ulster): “I think definitely we should be confident going in (to the play-off against Connacht), especially as we were class in the first half against Munster. It was such a good atmosphere, it was class playing on the home pitch.
“It was good to get out and shake off the nerves once we started and get into it. It was definitely unreal getting two tries on debut. Happy enough with that, even though it (a 38-17 defeat) wasn’t the outcome that we wanted.
“I think if we put in a performance again like we did in the first half last week, and just look to sustain that for as long as we can into the second half, we’d definitely push a win.”
Team News: Ailish Quinn’s ankle injury just before half-time against Leinster was a cruel setback for the recent Ireland debutant and Connacht, who will miss her for their last outing of the Championship. They currently have five other players out injured.
However, when you also consider that Connacht have seven players away on Rugby World Cup duty with Ireland, it is a sign of the province’s growing strength in depth that they can field another quality line-up, led by Éabha Nic Dhonnacha, for this play-off.
In her first season as captain, Nic Dhonnacha will be determined to finish on a high in Donnybrook. Head coach Emer O’Dowd has made just one enforced change as Old Belvedere’s Lesley Ring replaces Quinn at openside flanker.
The westerners had four players play all 240 minutes of the group stage, and it is no surprise that they have been a very influential quartet – Nic Dhonnacha, Orla Dixon, ever-present full-back Clara Barrett, and young vice-captain Jemima Adams Verling, who has had a real physical presence from number 8.
O’Dowd’s charges were just a converted try away from qualifying for this weekend’s final, but instead a Vicky Elmes Kinlan try saw Leinster prevail 17-12 in Galway last Saturday. In the week prior to that, Connacht came from behind to beat Ulster 12-7 at home.
For tomorrow’s rematch, there is one more alteration on the bench where Tuam/Oughterard’s Karly Tierney is set for her second appearance of the month. She was a second-half replacement in their first round loss to Munster.
Meanwhile, Ulster head coach Murray Houston has made six changes for their second showdown with Connacht in the space of two weeks. A third place finish is up for grabs, and they will be all guns blazing in pursuit of an elusive result.
Ulster’s most recent victory came in this corresponding fixture in Cork two years ago, when former captain Beth Cregan led them to a historic 38-17 success against Connacht, the last team they beat in Interprovincial action back in December 2012.
Of the 2023 side, only Niamh Marley, Abby Moyles, and current captain India Daley will start again on Saturday afternoon. The province’s next generation are pushing through with Cara McLean, the reigning Ulster Girls’ Youth Player of the Year, making her first senior start.
The Larne teenager captained the Ireland Under-18s earlier this year, and will be eager to make her mark at loosehead tomorrow, joining forces with Daley and 21-year-old tighthead Sophie Barrett in the front row.
Lauren Farrell McCabe replaces her younger sister Kate at full-back, while Queen’s University winger Ciara Fitzsimons, a two-try debutant in last week’s 38-17 loss to Munster, will be looking for more scoring chances out wide.
Tara O’Neill slots back in at inside centre, with her Cooke colleague Georgia Boyce also starting at scrum half. Queen’s duo Lauren Darley and Ruby Starrett are back in the starting pack, the former linking up again with vice-captain Brenda Barr in the engine room.
Houston’s side are craving a full 80-minute performance after producing strong first halves against Leinster, Connacht, and Munster, but not being able to maintain that level. It will take a full squad effort, and newcomer Emily Whittle is poised to become their latest debutant off the bench.
CONNACHT: Clara Barrett (UL Bohemian RFC); Ava Ryder (Blackrock College RFC), Orla Dixon (Galwegians RFC), Fódhla Ní Bhraonáin (Tuam/Oughterard RFC), Hannah Clarke (Old Belvedere RFC); Éabha Nic Dhonnacha (UL Bohemian RFC) (capt), Gráinne Moran (Galwegians RFC); Hannah Coen (Creggs RFC), Stacy Hanley (Galwegians RFC), Roisin Maher (Galwegians RFC), Poppy Garvey (Railway Union RFC), Grace Browne Moran (Galwegians RFC), Faith Oviawe (Railway Union RFC), Lesley Ring (Old Belvedere RFC), Jemima Adams Verling (Creggs RFC).
Replacements: Lily Brady (UL Bohemian RFC), Ellen Connolly (Galwegians RFC), Hope Lowney (MU Barnhall RFC), Beibhinn Gleeson (Tuam/Oughterard RFC), Caoilfhionn Conway Morrissey (Ennis RFC), Karly Tierney (Tuam/Oughterard RFC), Sinead O’Brien (Galwegians RFC), Aisling Whyte (South East Galway Warriors RFC).
ULSTER: Lauren Farrell McCabe (Suttonians RFC); Ciara Fitzsimons (Queen’s University Belfast RFC), Siobhán Sheerin (Clogher Valley RFC), Tara O’Neill (Cooke RFC), Niamh Marley (Cooke RFC); Abby Moyles (UL Bohemian RFC), Georgia Boyce (Enniskillen RFC/Cooke RFC); Cara McLean (Larne RFC), India Daley (Enniskillen RFC/Blackrock College RFC) (capt), Sophie Barrett (Enniskillen RFC), Lauren Darley (Queen’s University Belfast RFC), Brenda Barr (Suttonians RFC), Moya Hill (Enniskillen RFC), Ruby Starrett (Queen’s University Belfast RFC), Stacey Sloan (Cooke RFC).
Replacements: Maebh Clenaghan (Queen’s University Belfast RFC), Aishling O’Connell (Monaghan RFC/Cooke RFC), Sarah Roberts (Queen’s University Befast RFC), Emily Whittle (Queen’s University Belfast RFC), Rebecca Beacom (Enniskillen RFC), Sophie Meeke (Enniskillen RFC), Kate Farrell McCabe (Suttonians RFC), Lucy Thompson (Enniskillen RFC/Cooke RFC).
Referee: Andrew Cole (IRFU)
Assistant Referees: Paul Haycock, Keavin Beakey (both IRFU)