VODAFONE WOMEN'S INTERPROVINCIAL CHAMPIONSHIP - ROUND 1:
Saturday, August 8 -
MUNSTER 39 LEINSTER 19, Virgin Media Park
Scorers: Munster: Tries: Beth Buttimer 4, Alana McInerney, Eilís Cahill, Katie Corrigan; Cons: Caitríona Finn 2
Leinster: Tries: Sarah Delaney, Erin King, Hannah Wilson; Cons: Dannah O'Brien 2
HT: Munster 15 Leinster 7
Closing in on her first Ireland senior cap with the WXV Global Series starting next month, Beth Buttimer made sure to put her best foot forward at Virgin Media Park.
The Tipperary native and Ireland Under-21 hooker was the obvious player-of-the-match choice in an abrasive Munster pack that included debutant flanker Grace Moore.
Matt Brown's defending champions led 15-7 at half-time, crossing early through sparky 20-year-old Buttimer, who claimed a first-half brace, and Alana McInerney.
While Erin King and Eve Higgins were amongst six debutants in Leinster's squad, the visitors struggled with their execution, but new captain Sarah Delaney's 27th-minute maul score lifted them.
As they sought to avenge two defeats from last season, Sana Govender's first game in charge of Leinster was not going to plan, as tries from Eilís Cahill and Buttimer opened up a 20-point gap by the hour mark.
This was even with Munster losing Aoife Corey to the bin sin. King and replacement Hannah Wilson mustered final-quarter tries, but the two-in-a-row hopefuls always had an answer.
Former Leinster winger Katie Corrigan capitalised on Linda Djougang's yellow card to race over on her Munster debut, and Buttimer burrowed out right at the death to make it a seven-try victory.
Brown's charges, who host Ulster in Cork next week, look the team to beat again, although Leinster, who entertain Connacht in round 2, will hope to meet them again in the August 29 final.
It took just 95 seconds for Munster to take the lead. Enya Breen used an early penalty to put them close to the left corner, and a well-controlled maul saw Buttimer touch down.
Leinster's lineout misfired in a similar position, and Breen, although getting through a lot of good work early on, and Dannah O'Brien both missed touch from penalties.
Despite some evident early-season rustiness for both teams, Munster were looking the more cohesive side. They duly doubled their advantage to 10 points in the 13th minute.
Leinster's maul defence stood up to the task this time, but the Reds' close-in carrying had them within reach before McInerney muscled over to the right of the posts.
Making her 28th Munster appearance, Clodagh O'Halloran thwarted Leinster with an important lineout steal, and Maggie Boylan lacked support when countering from an Emily Lane kick.
A turnover penalty won by dual international Corrigan, and a subsequent turnover snapped up by Buttimer, earned the home crowd's approval.
Nonethless, Leinster's lineout was beginning to have an impact, and from their next opportunity, twelve metres out, the momentum was built for the determined Delaney to be driven over.
Despite O'Brien's left boot closing the gap to 10-7, Munster knitted together another good attack on half-hour mark, and Buttimer, picking from a ruck, slipped in between King and Robyn O'Connor to double her tally.
Leinster had Boylan to thank for blocking down Breen's conversion, yet Munster ended the first half on the front foot, buoyed by strong runs from Chisom Ugwueru and Sally Kelly.
Govender's outfit drew encouragement from their defensive efforts, holding Lane up over the line, and King twice came to the rescue, forcing a turnover from a hat-trick-hunting Buttimer.
The Munster hooker was a whisker away from her third try shortly after the restart. Breen's well-struck 50:22 kick, and the forceful carrying of skipper Maeve Óg O'Leary and Jane Clohessy, had set up the chance.
When they came knocking again, there was no stopping powerful tighthead Cahill, who bowled over referee Siobhan Daly in the process. The try stood despite Leinster's protests about the official's positioning.
Cahill, one of Ireland's new caps during this year's Six Nations, then showed her defensive capabilities when her well-won penalty at the breakdown foiled a promising Leinster attack.
Although Corey saw yellow following a Higgins break, Munster scored in the Ennis native's absence. Once more the maul did the damage, with Buttimer finishing smartly at the tail.
Replacement Caitríona Finn had a couple of brilliant kicks either side of the front rower's latest try - with a raking touchfinder and a crisp conversion - as Leinster fell 27-7 in arrears.
Djougang, King, and an unusually quiet Aoife Dalton led the Blues' response. Lifting the tempo and punching some holes in the defence, it was King who scored via a quick ruck pick-up.
The conversion from O'Brien left 13 points in it with just over a quarter of an hour remaining. However, Djougang's sin-binning for a high tackle halted Leinster's momentum.
With 74 minutes on the clock, Corrigan was released from the edge of Leinster's 22 to produce a pacy finish in the right corner, evading the clutches of both Higgins and Robyn O'Connor.
In a flurry of late scoring, King was held up short before Old Belvedere prop Wilson crashed over, and Buttimer did likewise at the other end for a deserved 20-point winning margin.
TIME LINE: 2 minutes - Munster try: Beth Buttimer - 5-0; conversion: missed by Enya Breen - 5-0; 13 mins - Munster try: Alana McInerney - 10-0; conversion: missed by Enya Breen - 10-0; 27 mins - Leinster try: Sarah Delaney - 10-5; conversion: Dannah O'Brien - 10-7; 31 mins - Munster try: Beth Buttimer - 15-7; conversion: missed by Enya Breen - 15-7; Half-time - Munster 15 Leinster 7; 46 mins - Munster try: Eilís Cahill - 20-7; conversion: missed by Enya Breen - 20-7; 55 minutes - Munster yellow card: Aoife Corey; 59 mins - Munster try: Beth Buttimer - 25-7; conversion: Caitríona Finn - 27-7; 63 mins - Leinster try: Erin King - 27-12; conversion: Dannah O'Brien - 27-14; 69 mins - Leinster yellow card: Linda Djougang; 74 mins - Munster try: Katie Corrigan - 32-14; conversion: Caitríona Finn - 34-14; 78 mins - Leinster try: Hannah Wilson - 34-19; conversion: missed by Dannah O'Brien - 34-19; 80+6 mins - Munster try: Beth Buttimer - 39-19; conversion: missed by Caitríona Finn - 39-19; Full-time - Munster 39 Leinster 19
MUNSTER: Aoife Corey; Katie Corrigan, Alana McInerney, Lucia Linn, Chisom Ugwueru; Enya Breen, Emily Lane; Siobhán McCarthy, Beth Buttimer, Eilís Cahill, Clodagh O'Halloran, Jane Clohessy, Sally Kelly, Grace Moore, Maeve Óg O'Leary (capt).
Replacements: Emma Dunican, Tuathla Ryan, Alisha Flynn, Aoibhe O'Flynn, AnnaKate Cournane, Abbie Salter-Townshend, Caitríona Finn, Ellen Boylan.
LEINSTER: Robyn O'Connor; Maggie Boylan, Aoife Dalton, Eve Higgins, Vicky Elmes Kinlan; Dannah O'Brien, Jade Gaffney; Caoimhe Molloy, Sarah Delaney (capt), Linda Djougang, Ruth Campbell, Kate Jordan, Rosie Searle, Roisín Kinch, Erin King.
Replacements: Emma Jane Wilson, Hannah Wilson, Shona White, Alma Atagamen, Aoife Corcoran, Alex Connor, Ellie O'Sullivan Sexton, Emma Tilly.
Referee: Siobhan Daly (IRFU)
Assistant Referees: John Purcell, John Moynihan (both IRFU)
