A clinical first half performance from Leinster Women, in which they accumulated 36 unanswered points, paved the way for a 7-41 inter-pro win over Ulster at Ravenhill on Saturday afternoon.
The visitors got the scoring underway in the ninth minute when Ireland captain Fiona Coughlan's midfield pass allowed back row Sophie Spence to break through and score under the posts. Their international colleague Nora Stapleton added the simple conversion.
Leinster soon found their rhythm and outside ...
A clinical first half performance from Leinster Women, in which they accumulated 36 unanswered points, paved the way for a 7-41 inter-pro win over Ulster at Ravenhill on Saturday afternoon. The visitors got the scoring underway in the ninth minute when Ireland captain Fiona Coughlan's midfield pass allowed back row Sophie Spence to break through and score under the posts. Their international colleague Nora Stapleton added the simple conversion. Leinster soon found their rhythm and outside centre Michelle Claffey got the second when she slipped through a weak tackle to touch down in the right hand corner, extending the lead to 0-12. The floodgates opened shortly after; left wing Janice Daly got on the end of a speculative kick to score the third, before a high tackle on the same player led to a penalty try. Outhalf Stapleton added a second conversion to bring the score to 0-24 inside 20 minutes. Aine NiChathain broke through a couple of attempted tackles for the fifth, converted by Stapleton, before a powerful run from Spence led to her second try just after the half hour mark to bring the score to 0-36. There were no further scores for the remainder of the first half but the damage was done. The hosts were much improved after the break, dominating territory and possession for large chunks. But Leinster too looked dangerous and replacement Chrisy Doyle touched down with 15 minutes remaining following a well-executed backline move from a 5m scrum. Ulster got a consolation score late on when scrumhalf Imogen Porter dived over from close range after good work from Grace Davitt and Jemma Jackson. Davitt, whose strong defence and penetrating runs were major positives for Ulster, added the extras. A number of the younger players also stood out and they deserved to win the second half 7-5. Ulster will be encouraged by their endeavours late in the game as they prepare to travel to Clonmell next Sunday to take on Munster.
A clinical first half performance from Leinster Women, in which they accumulated 36 unanswered points, paved the way for a 7-41 inter-pro win over Ulster at Ravenhill on Saturday afternoon. The visitors got the scoring underway in the ninth minute when Ireland captain Fiona Coughlan's midfield pass allowed back row Sophie Spence to break through and score under the posts. Their international colleague Nora Stapleton added the simple conversion. Leinster soon found their rhythm and outside centre Michelle Claffey got the second when she slipped through a weak tackle to touch down in the right hand corner, extending the lead to 0-12. The floodgates opened shortly after; left wing Janice Daly got on the end of a speculative kick to score the third, before a high tackle on the same player led to a penalty try. Outhalf Stapleton added a second conversion to bring the score to 0-24 inside 20 minutes. Aine NiChathain broke through a couple of attempted tackles for the fifth, converted by Stapleton, before a powerful run from Spence led to her second try just after the half hour mark to bring the score to 0-36. There were no further scores for the remainder of the first half but the damage was done. The hosts were much improved after the break, dominating territory and possession for large chunks. But Leinster too looked dangerous and replacement Chrisy Doyle touched down with 15 minutes remaining following a well-executed backline move from a 5m scrum. Ulster got a consolation score late on when scrumhalf Imogen Porter dived over from close range after good work from Grace Davitt and Jemma Jackson. Davitt, whose strong defence and penetrating runs were major positives for Ulster, added the extras. A number of the younger players also stood out and they deserved to win the second half 7-5. Ulster will be encouraged by their endeavours late in the game as they prepare to travel to Clonmell next Sunday to take on Munster.