News

Deloitte Women's Junior Cup Launch & 1st Round Draw

14th October 2022

This year will be one of the biggest-ever for the competition, with a total of 17 teams competing for the trophy, made up of 8 Premiership sides and 9 from the Championship.

Today's draw was carried out by Women and Girls' Committee Chairperson Paula Stewart and Chris Sloan of Deloitte.

The competition will begin on the weekend of the 29th and 30th of October with the Championship clubs taking part in the following fixtures:

### Deloitte Women's Junior Cup Round 1

Lisburn v Randalstown

Cooke 2XV v Ophir

Ballynahinch v Portadown

North Down v QUB 2XV

Carrickfergus - Bye to Round 2

Ulster Rugby Women and Girl's Development Manager Eliza Downey said:

"It's great to continue our partnership with Deloitte ahead of another Women's Junior Cup campaign. Similar to last season, we have 17 teams taking part which is the largest number we've ever seen competing in the tournament.

"Women and girls' rugby is continuing to grow right across the province, and we're delighted to see the number of teams rise to 25, up from 16 in 2019/20."

Chris Sloan of Deloitte said:

“Diversity is one of Deloitte’s core values and everyone at the firm is really proud of our sponsorship of women and girls’ rugby in Ulster, so we’re excited to see the draw for this year’s Junior Cup fixtures with an increase in the number of players that are participating.

"We have been really encouraged by the recent growth in participation in rugby amongst women and girls and we are committed to playing our part in further increasing opportunities at all levels and helping raise the profile of women and girls’ rugby.”

### Deloitte Women's Junior Cup 2022/23 Schedule

Round 2

The 4 match winners from Round 1, and the team who received a Bye, will progress to Round 2.

They will then be entered into a draw along with the teams who make up the bottom 5 of the Premiership after Round 7 fixtures have been played.

This draw will produce 5 fixtures to be played in Round 2 on the weekend of the 26th and 27th of November.

Quarter-Finals

The 5 match winners from Round 2 will progress to the quarter-finals.

They will be joined by the remaining 3 teams from the Premiership.

These 8 teams will then be entered into the quarter-final draw, which will produce 4 fixtures to be played on the weekend of the 4th and 5th of February.

Semi-Finals

The 4 match winners from the quarter finals will progress to the semi-finals.

A draw will take place to produce 2 fixtures which will take place on the weekend of the 25th and 26th of February.

Final

The 2 winners of the semi final will progress to the final, which will take place on Saturday the 8th of April 2023 at Kingspan Stadium.