'No excuses': Munster look to successfully defend Women’s Interprovincial Championship title

NO EXCUSES: Munster Head Coach Matt Brown speaks to the team huddle after the game. Pic: ©INPHO/Ben Brady.

Head coach Matt Brown said his Munster players will have no excuses if they fail to successfully defend their Vodafone Women’s Interprovincial Championship title in this Saturday’s final against Leinster.

The 2025 champions completed a clean sweep of their rivals during the round-robin stage of the competition this month, dominating Leinster 39-19 in round one and whitewashing Ulster 62-0 on their return to Cork’s Virgin Media Park a week later, before bulldozing Connacht in Galway 47-12 last Saturday.

Brown’s squad will make a repeat visit to Dexcom Stadium this weekend having collected maximum points in all three games but Munster are waiting on the fitness of key forwards Eilis Cahill, the tighthead prop, second row Jane Clohessy and captain and back rower Maeve Óg O’Leary, absent since round one.

Yet Brown said: “Certainly if we don't deliver on Saturday, then that certainly won't be any excuses that we're not in Virgin Media or we're not in Thomond Park. There are absolutely no excuses for us.

“We've got to turn up and we said to the girls through the week, whatever you've done so far, there can't be any crutches for next week. You lose a few players, you're playing somewhere else. There's no excuses.

“We have to go out and deliver and that's a level of professionalism that the girls have to show and the coaches to make sure that we give the best performance we can and then we roll the dice then and see which side we come out of it.”

Brown believes Munster caught Leinster cold in Cork in round one and has seen Sana Govender’s outfit improve steadily having seen off Connacht 36-21 in Dublin in round two and then demolished Ulster 75-5 in Belfast last weekend.

“I think probably in the first game, we probably had the edge. We were able to get off the line quite hard and perhaps catch them a little bit behind the gain line, which didn't give them any go-forward, which then makes it very hard for their backs to operate. So, we kind of smothered it, to be honest.

“Then when I watched them against Connacht, they were completely different. I saw more aggression in the carries, a little bit more ruthless at the breakdown. And they put 75 points on Ulster, so they're attacking games, obviously, coming to the fore.

“And I watched the Ulster game as well and they're breaking a lot of the edges and that's just something that we can't afford to let happen. And we have our own strategy to try and deal with that.

“It remains to be seen if we can or not. And if we're not tight enough in that area, we're going to be under pressure. There's no doubt about it. And we'll be pushing that we will make mistakes and we're conscious of that, but it's just how hard we work to rectify or get back on the front foot when we've kind of conceded, whether it's a line break or even a score.”

The Munster boss paid tribute to his squad’s continuing energy as they prepare for their fourth and final game of the championship.

“We're coming into the fourth game, which is usually that's when you start creaking and start feeling things. And they'll be wandering down the hall singing songs and all sorts.

“So, I'm just like, they might be better off getting rid of me and get a psychologist in because I'd say I'm lost for answers, but they're never, ever short of energy and they show that when they go on the pitch.

“We talk about how physical we are, but that comes on the back of a lot of energy and they bring that to defence and attack. They get excited getting off the line and they get excited on a big ball carry.

"I can't take credit for that. That's the girls themselves and that's how they operate. And I absolutely love it about them too.”