Maeve Óg O’Leary out of Munster's interpro clash with Ulster

Aoife Corey will step up to lead the team at Virgin Media Park.

Munster's Jane Clohessy celebrates with her niece Sophia, and Aoife Corey after the game. Pic: INPHO/Ben Brady

A minor knock has forced Munster captain Maeve Óg O’Leary out of the defending champions' second-round Vodafone Women’s Interprovincial Championship clash with Ulster in Cork on Saturday (2:30pm), with full-back Aoife Corey chosen to lead the team at Virgin Media Park.

O’Leary’s unavailability for selection came late in the week after the back-rower had performed Munster’s media duties on Tuesday, having started at No.8 in the dominant opening-round victory over Leinster at home last Saturday.

Matchday captain Corey was one of several Munster players who shone in a 39-19 win over last season’s runners-up and was on Friday named in an unchanged backline anchored by Ireland international duo Enya Breen at fly-half and number nine Emily Lane.

O’Leary’s absence means a rejig to the back five of the Munster pack with head coach Matt Brown promoting Aoibhe O’Flynn from last weekend’s replacements to start in the second row alongside Jane Clohessy, with Clodagh O’Halloran shifting from lock to blindside flanker as Sally Kelly moves from that position to openside flanker, from where Grace Moore moves to No.8 in place of the captain.

There could be Munster debuts off the bench for back-row replacement Ava O’Malley of UL Bohemian and at number 23, with Blackrock’s Andrea Murphy providing outside back cover.

Ulster, meanwhile, make two changes themselves as they look to rebound from an opening-round home loss to Connacht, beaten 15-10 in Belfast last Saturday. Captain India Daley returns from injury to start at hooker as Maebh Clenaghan moves to the bench while on the left wing, Ciara Fitzsimons replaces Siobhan Sheerin.

An Ulster victory against the defending champions in Cork would be a major upset but O’Leary earlier this week said there would be no complacency from the home side.

“Our fixture that we played against them last year was probably one of our tougher fixtures,” the injured back-rower said. “I think we went in at half-time and it was 19-17, so we really have to focus on the game ahead and just improving anything we need to from the weekend.

“Ulster have that never-die attitude. They're never going to just sit back and let another team come at them, like any team in this interpros, to be honest.

“But they can be massively physically dominant. Their scrum at the weekend, I think up until the last couple of minutes of the game, they were still really putting in a shift and putting in a fight there. So that's something we'll be really looking at, is how physical that they are.

“They also have some extremely talented backs with pace and who will be running really, really hard. I mean, I think our backline did a great job at the weekend, but you just can't underestimate, again, what Ulster will bring.

“We'll be setting up, I suppose, for a lot of physicality. And then when it gets to the backs, I suppose that pace and physicality as well. I think their 13, Siobhán Sheerin last year, she really was punching holes in our defence so we'll be looking to look after that and just be ready to kind of go back at them as well.” 

MUNSTER: Aoife Corey (UL Bohemian) – captain; Katie Corrigan (Old Belvedere), Alana McInerney (UL Bohemian), Lucia Linn (UL Bohemian), Chisom Ugwueru (UL Bohemian); Enya Breen (Blackrock College), Emily Lane (Blackrock College); Siobhan McCarthy (Railway Union), Beth Buttimer (UL Bohemian), Eilís Cahill (UL Bohemian); Jane Clohessy (UL Bohemian), Aoibhe O’Flynn (UL Bohemian); Clodagh O’Halloran (UL Bohemian), Sally Kelly (Ennis), Grace Moore.

Replacements: E Dunican (UL Bohemian), Tuathla Ryan (Shannon), Alisha Flynn (Old Belvedere), AnnaKate Cournane (Shannon), Ava O’Malley (UL Bohemian), Abbie Salter-Townshend (UL Bohemian), Caitríona Finn (UL Bohemian), Andrea Murphy (Blackrock College).

ULSTER: Niamh Marley; Katie Gilmour, Caitlin Crowe, Lucy Thompson, Ciara Fitzsimons; Abby Moyles, Rachael McIlroy; Sadhbh McGrath, India Daley – captain, Sophie Barrett; Fiona Tuite-O’Sullivan, Rebecca Beacom; Moya Hill, Christy Hill, Claire Boles.

Replacements: Maebh Clenaghan, Sarah Roberts, Ava Fannin, Olivia McKinley, Stacey Sloan, Georgia Boyce, Leah Irwin, Ella Durkan.