High-Scoring #EnergiaAIL Round Sees Young Players Stand Out

Ireland Under-20 team-mates Beth Buttimer and Hannah Scanlan impressed in the scoring stakes for their clubs last weekend, while U-18 international Heidi Lyons lit things up for Railway Union with four tries against Cooke.

The 20-year-old Buttimer ran in a hat-trick for table toppers UL Bohemian away to Wicklow, rounding off a memorable week for her personally after her first senior contract within the IRFU Women’s High Performance Programme was announced.

Another player who has joined the full-time centralised programme for the 2025/26 season is UL Bohs playmaker Caitríona Finn (pictured below). She remains the leading points scorer in the Energia All-Ireland League Women’s Division, moving onto 70 points.

With top try scorer Alana McInerney (11 tries) among the players away with the Ireland Sevens squad in Dubai last week, skilful back Finn has extended his lead at the summit to 15 points.

Meanwhile, Blackrock College winger Maggie Boylan has closed to within one try of McInerney, reaching double figures for the season so far after a classy finish from 45 metres out against Ennis.

Railway Union duo Claire Boles and Lyons have joined Bohs captain Chloe Pearse on nine tries. The pair combined for six tries in Belfast, with Kildare youngster Lyons a bright prospect at inside centre, either side of Railway captain Niamh Byrne and out-half Scanlan.

This is Lyons’ first Energia All-Ireland League season, following on from her Leinster senior debut, while the sharpshooting Scanlan is in her second year at this level. She scored a try and kicked five conversions against Cooke to take her season’s haul to 42 points.

While Robyn O’Connor was helping Ireland to reach the semi-final stage of the Dubai 7s International Invitational tournament, Galwegians centre Niamh Murphy and Blackrock’s Maeve Óg O’Leary both matched her eight-try tally for the league campaign.

An exciting eighth round awaits on Saturday, with two of the top three teams, Galwegians and Blackrock, meeting in Glenina, Ennis hosting Railway Union for the first time ever, and Ballincollig and Wicklow, who are split by a single point in the table, facing off at Tanner Park.

ENERGIA ALL-IRELAND LEAGUE WOMEN’S DIVISION – TOP SCORERS AFTER ROUND 7:

POINTS –

70 – Caitríona Finn (UL Bohemian)

55 – Alana McInerney (UL Bohemian)

50 – Maggie Boylan (Blackrock College)

45 – Claire Boles (Railway Union), Heidi Lyons (Railway Union), Chloe Pearse (UL Bohemian)

42 – Hannah Scanlan (Railway Union)

41 – Abby Moyles (Blackrock College)

40 – Niamh Murphy (Galwegians), Robyn O’Connor (Old Belvedere), Maeve Óg O’Leary (Blackrock College)

35 – Jemima Adams Verling (Galwegians), Emily Foley (Galwegians)

34 – Síofra Hession (Galwegians)

33 – Ellie O’Sullivan Sexton (Old Belvedere)

30 – Kate Flannery (UL Bohemian), Éabha Nic Dhonnacha (UL Bohemian)

27 – Beth Roberts (Wicklow)

25 – Aoife Corey (UL Bohemian), Katie Corrigan (Old Belvedere), Kila Curran Coleman (Galwegians), Vicky Elmes Kinlan (Wicklow)

24 – Emma Connolly (Ballincollig), Méabh Deely (Blackrock College), Dolores Hughes (Galwegians)

22 – Nikki Caughey (Railway Union)

20 – Beth Buttimer (UL Bohemian), Hannah Clarke (Old Belvedere), Caoilfhionn Conway Morrissey (Ennis), Aoibhín Donnelly (Ennis), Aoibhe O’Flynn (UL Bohemian)

19 – Jemma Lees (Galwegians)

17 – Hazel Simmons (Old Belvedere)

15 – Niamh Byrne (Railway Union), Eilís Cahill (UL Bohemian), Lisa Callan (Old Belvedere), Aimee Clarke (Railway Union), Megan Collis (Railway Union), Clara Dunne (Wicklow), Chloe Farrell (Tullow), Emily Gavin (Railway Union), Ailsa Hughes (Railway Union), Grace Kingston (Ballincollig), Aoife Madigan (Ballincollig), Sarah Munnelly (Railway Union), Andi Murphy (Blackrock College), Chloé Ponthus (Railway Union), Eve Prendergast (Ballincollig), Roisin Stone (Wicklow), Brighid Twohig (Ballincollig), Ava Usanova (Railway Union), Katie Whelan (Old Belvedere)

13 – Emma Keane (Ennis)

10 – Molly Boyne (Railway Union), Sam Brackett (Blackrock College), Lily Brady (UL Bohemian), Rebecca Brennan (Wicklow), Brooke Gilroy (Old Belvedere), Alex Good (Ballincollig), Rachel Griffey (Wicklow), Aoibheann Hahessy (Ennis), Shola Iluyemi (Cooke), Ivana Kiripati (Old Belvedere), Amy Larn (Old Belvedere), Lucia Linn (UL Bohemian), Awatere McLean-Wanoa (Ballincollig), Amanda Morton (Cooke), Sinéad O’Brien (Galwegians), Hannah O’Connor (Blackrock College), Clodagh O’Halloran (UL Bohemian), Kate O’Sullivan (Ballincollig), Laura Sheehan (Railway Union), Naoise Smyth (Old Belvedere), Mollie Starr (Galwegians), Leah Tarpey (Railway Union), Trinity Todd (Blackrock College), Ilse van Staden (Cooke)

7 – Lauren Farrell McCabe (Blackrock College)

6 – France Bloomfield (Tullow), Éadaoin Murtagh (Old Belvedere)

5 – Sophie Barrett (Cooke), Natasja Behan (Blackrock College), Mira Broeks (Railway Union), Ella Burns (Galwegians), Megan Burns (Blackrock College), Emily Byrne (Old Belvedere), Emma Carroll (Tullow), Louise Carter (UL Bohemian), Regan Casey (Blackrock College), Jamie Church (Wicklow), Lyndsay Clarke (Ennis), Maebh Clenaghan (Cooke), Ciara Coughlan (Ennis), Sophie Cullen (Galwegians), Emelia Deane (Ballincollig), Eimear Douglas (Wicklow), Eilis Doyle (Old Belvedere), Ella Durkan (Blackrock College), Sinéad Farrell (Old Belvedere), Gemma Faulkner (Galwegians), Molly Fitzpatrick (Blackrock College), Aoife Fleming (Ballincollig), Catherine Fleming (Galwegians), Ciara Fleming (Ballincollig), Alisha Flynn (Old Belvedere), Poppy Garvey (Railway Union), Nikki Gibson (Blackrock College), Katie Gilmour (Cooke), Micaela Glynn (Ennis), Vicki Good (Ballincollig), Saher Hamdan (Ennis), Orla Hanlon (Tullow), Hannah Johnston (Railway Union), Anaïs Jubin (UL Bohemian), Nicola Kilcoyne (Tullow), Miyu Kojima (Railway Union), Katie Layde (Old Belvedere), Jennifer Madden (Wicklow), Sarah Moody (Blackrock College), Gráinne Moran (Galwegians), Sophie Murphy (Wicklow), Clíodhna Ní Chonchobhair (Blackrock College), Alex O’Brien (Tullow), Julia O’Connor (Old Belvedere), Megan O’Connor (Ennis), Sarah O’Donnell (Railway Union), Ava O’Malley (UL Bohemian), Faye O’Neill (Wicklow), Katie Ann O’Neill (Tullow), Roisin O’Toole (Tullow), Paige Smyth (Cooke), Angela Viciano (Tullow), Lorraine Voorbach (Wicklow)

4 – Patricia Coote (Ennis), Hilary Fitzgerald (Tullow), Fia Whelan (Ballincollig)

TRIES –

11 – Alana McInerney (UL Bohemian)

10 – Maggie Boylan (Blackrock College)

9 – Claire Boles (Railway Union), Heidi Lyons (Railway Union), Chloe Pearse (UL Bohemian)

8 – Niamh Murphy (Galwegians), Robyn O’Connor (Old Belvedere), Maeve Óg O’Leary (Blackrock College)

7 – Jemima Adams Verling (Galwegians), Emily Foley (Galwegians)

6 – Éabha Nic Dhonnacha (UL Bohemian)

5 – Aoife Corey (UL Bohemian), Katie Corrigan (Old Belvedere), Kila Curran Coleman (Galwegians), Vicky Elmes Kinlan (Wicklow)

4 – Beth Buttimer (UL Bohemian), Hannah Clarke (Old Belvedere), Caoilfhionn Conway Morrissey (Ennis), Méabh Deely (Blackrock College), Aoibhín Donnelly (Ennis), Caitríona Finn (UL Bohemian), Kate Flannery (UL Bohemian), Dolores Hughes (Galwegians), Aoibhe O’Flynn (UL Bohemian)

3 – Niamh Byrne (Railway Union), Eilís Cahill (UL Bohemian), Lisa Callan (Old Belvedere), Aimee Clarke (Railway Union), Megan Collis (Railway Union), Clara Dunne (Wicklow), Emily Gavin (Railway Union), Ailsa Hughes (Railway Union), Grace Kingston (Ballincollig), Aoife Madigan (Ballincollig), Sarah Munnelly (Railway Union), Andi Murphy (Blackrock College), Chloé Ponthus (Railway Union), Eve Prendergast (Ballincollig), Roisin Stone (Wicklow), Brighid Twohig (Ballincollig), Ava Usanova (Railway Union), Katie Whelan (Old Belvedere)

2 – Molly Boyne (Railway Union), Sam Brackett (Blackrock College), Lily Brady (UL Bohemian), Rebecca Brennan (Wicklow), Chloe Farrell (Tullow), Brooke Gilroy (Old Belvedere), Alex Good (Ballincollig), Rachel Griffey (Wicklow), Aoibheann Hahessy (Ennis), Síofra Hession (Galwegians), Shola Iluyemi (Cooke), Ivana Kiripati (Old Belvedere), Amy Larn (Old Belvedere), Lucia Linn (UL Bohemian), Awatere McLean-Wanoa (Ballincollig), Abby Moyles (Blackrock College), Sinéad O’Brien (Galwegians), Hannah O’Connor (Blackrock College), Clodagh O’Halloran (UL Bohemian), Kate O’Sullivan (Ballincollig), Hannah Scanlan (Railway Union), Laura Sheehan (Railway Union), Naoise Smyth (Old Belvedere), Mollie Starr (Galwegians), Leah Tarpey (Railway Union), Trinity Todd (Blackrock College), Ilse van Staden (Cooke)

1 – Sophie Barrett (Cooke), Natasja Behan (Blackrock College), Mira Broeks (Railway Union), Ella Burns (Galwegians), Megan Burns (Blackrock College), Emily Byrne (Old Belvedere), Emma Carroll (Tullow), Louise Carter (UL Bohemian), Regan Casey (Blackrock College), Nikki Caughey (Railway Union), Jamie Church (Wicklow), Lyndsay Clarke (Ennis), Maebh Clenaghan (Cooke), Ciara Coughlan (Ennis), Sophie Cullen (Galwegians), Emeila Deane (Ballincollig), Eimear Douglas (Wicklow), Eilis Doyle (Old Belvedere), Ella Durkan (Blackrock College), Sinéad Farrell (Old Belvedere), Lauren Farrell McCabe (Blackrock College), Gemma Faulkner (Galwegians), Molly Fitzpatrick (Blackrock College), Aoife Fleming (Ballincollig), Catherine Fleming (Galwegians), Ciara Fleming (Ballincollig), Alisha Flynn (Old Belvedere), Poppy Garvey (Railway Union), Nikki Gibson (Blackrock College), Katie Gilmour (Cooke), Micaela Glynn (Ennis), Vicki Good (Ballincollig), Saher Hamdan (Ennis), Orla Hanlon (Tullow), Hannah Johnston (Railway Union), Anaïs Jubin (UL Bohemian), Nicola Kilcoyne (Tullow), Miyu Kojima (Railway Union), Katie Layde (Old Belvedere), Jemma Lees (Galwegians), Jennifer Madden (Wicklow), Sarah Moody (Blackrock College), Gráinne Moran (Galwegians), Sophie Murphy (Wicklow), Clíodhna Ní Chonchobhair (Blackrock College), Alex O’Brien (Tullow), Julia O’Connor (Old Belvedere), Megan O’Connor (Ennis), Sarah O’Donnell (Railway Union), Ava O’Malley (UL Bohemian), Faye O’Neill (Wicklow), Katie Ann O’Neill (Tullow), Ellie O’Sullivan Sexton (Old Belvedere), Roisin O’Toole (Tullow), Hazel Simmons (Old Belvedere), Paige Smyth (Cooke), Angela Viciano (Tullow), Lorraine Voorbach (Wicklow)

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