Munster out to avenge last week's defeat to Leinster

REVENGE MISSION: Munster head coach Niamh Briggs addresses her squad. Pic: INPHO/Ben Brady

Vodafone Women's Interprovincial Championship final

Munster v Leinster, Musgrave Park, 4.45pm (live on TG4/TG4 Player) 

Following last week's defeat to the same opposition, Munster are hoping to quickly recapture their best form when they host Leinster in the Vodafone Women's Interprovincial Championship final at Musgrave Park.

With 21 Interprovincial titles between them, these fierce rivals continue to set the standard in the TG4-televised competition. Munster are bidding for their first three in-a-row since they were crowned champions for five successive seasons between 2006 and 2010.

Rocked by a first round defeat away to Connacht, Tania Rosser's Leinster team bring momentum with them down to Cork following back-to-back home wins over Ulster (57-5) and Munster (26-19). They have not lifted the trophy since being back-to-back winners in 2018 and 2019.

The Musgrave Park factor is 'a massive thing' for Munster according to head coach Niamh Briggs who says it is a 'spiritual home' for her squad. They beat the Blues there last January, winning 26-17 thanks to a clinching try from winger Stephanie Carroll, this season's joint-top try scorer with three.

Briggs' selection for the decider shows only four changes to the side that won that Cork clash almost eight months ago. The most notable alterations to the starting XV that lost in Donnybrook last Saturday see the return of the experienced Eimear Considine, Aoife Doyle, and Nicole Cronin to the back-line.

Considine and Doyle resume in the back-three following their niggles, while canny out-half Cronin, who captained Munster to Interpro glory last season, is buzzing for a crack at the province's 16th title in a span of 22 years.

Having come off the bench last week for her first appearance since a long-term knee injury, Cronin said: "It's been an incredibly difficult time with injury, probably the last twelve months really. In and out and I suppose that's part and parcel of the game.

"But to get the 30-odd minutes under my belt last weekend was huge. A disappointing result but hopefully it puts me in a better position to help the girls moving forward.

"The appreciation for just getting out playing, let alone being in a position to bring home silverware, is massive. From that point of view, and the girls have been excellent, I think the drive to bring home that trophy again this weekend is huge.

"It's huge to be able to go out the following week and right the wrongs of a loss. Credit to Leinster, they did what they needed to do last week. We view it as a challenge. We're not focusing on them, it's about us and what we can do. Saturday tells it all."

Tullow youngster Dannah O'Brien, who earned praise from Rosser for her performance off the bench in the third round, comes in as the only change to Leinster's starting line-up.

The 20-year-old Ireland out-half leads the visitors' back-line alongside her Old Belvedere club-mate Katie Whelan, whose electric form across the opening three rounds has seen her included in Scott Bemand's first national training squad as one of five uncapped players.

While Briggs brings in Clodagh O'Halloran and Chloe Pearse in a powerful Dorothy Wall-led pack, the Leinster forwards are unchanged with their newly-assembled second row pairing of Eimear Corri and Ruth Campbell - with four tries between them - certainly looking the part.

Munster: Eimear Considine; Aoife Doyle, Alana McInerney, Stephanie Nunan, Stephanie Carroll; Nicole Cronin, Muirne Wall; Róisín Ormond, Ciara Farrell, Fiona Reidy, Dorothy Wall (capt), Clodagh O'Halloran, Chloe Pearse, Maeve Óg O'Leary, Deirbhile Nic a Bháird.

Replacements: Beth Buttimer, Eilís Cahill, Claire Bennett, Brianna Heylmann, Jane Clohessy, Kate Flannery, Ellen Boylan, Aoife Corey.

Leinster: Natasja Behan; Aimee Clarke, Aoife Dalton, Leah Tarpey, Anna Doyle; Dannah O'Brien, Katie Whelan; Linda Djougang, Lisa Callan, Christy Haney, Ruth Campbell, Eimear Corri, Aoife Wafer, Molly Boyne, Hannah O'Connor (capt).

Replacements: Caoimhe Molloy, Aoife Moore, Sarah Delaney, Katelynn Doran, Sene Taiti-Fanene, Ailsa Hughes, Nikki Caughey, Elise O'Byrne-White.