This Munster side has bottle and lots of it, that’s for sure.

Any side that can beat Leinster away with a trophy on the line is doing something right, and that’s even allowing for the number of players Leinster have away at Ireland camp. A massive W of this scale is exactly what we want to see.

All through this year’s Interprovincial Series, Munster have committed to doing things a little differently. If they were committed to just following the script laid out for them, they’d have decided that Nicole Cronin was a scrumhalf only and, if they had stuck to that, they might not have had access to the most effective passing pivot in the tournament over the last three weeks.

I’ve written at length about Munster’s use of depth/width as a key component of their attack and how, when deployed effectively, there is very little that the opposing defence can do except scramble well and hope for the best. That system would not work without Cronin’s passing range and accuracy at first receiver, in my opinion. Munster found a way to construct a style of play that used what they had available to them and they managed to build enough cohesion in a relatively short period of time to the point where they could effectively dispatch Ulster in Belfast, outpace Connacht in Musgrave Park and repeatedly hurt Leinster in Dublin on their way to a first Interpro title since 2017.

Against Ulster and Connacht, I showed Munster’s use of depth and width along with a 2+1 shape off Nicole Cronin with Rachel Allen used as a deeper passing option in that screen slot. Allen, comfortable as a flyhalf, is really suited to that deeper role but Munster selected Stephanie Nunan – a centre/wing – in that position this week. Why? How would this affect the 2+1 shape Munster had been running so successfully in the previous weeks?

By turning the 2+1 platform into a 2+1 slide.

Munster were still building in with the three pod off #9 in the wider areas – very effectively at times – but the main meat of the sandwich was that action on the next phase when Wall could put Cronin into position to use that 2+1 in the middle space. With the pace and elusivity of Nunan, Munster repeatedly looked to work her around the outside of the 2+1.

The width of Cronin’s pass combined with the depth of the shape, allowed players like O’Halloran, Pearse, O’Leary, Caplice and others to attack their defender with momentum before looking to offload into the outside lane for Nunan. We went looking for this over and over again.

Our best use of it came inside six minutes where it completely popped open the Leinster close-range defence before a forward pass right at the end ruled the try out.

It wasn’t all good – when we went into the second layer at times, we struggled to move the ball to the wider areas and were lucky enough that an outstanding ball-carrying display from O’Leary, Pearse, Nic A Bhairde and Caplice allowed us to reset with astounding quality.

Here’s a good example bookended by conceding a breakdown penalty, something that would plague us throughout the game.

The quality of our ball carrying was outstanding throughout. Chloe Pearse was remarkable in this area of the game – one of the best ball carrying performances I’ve ever seen, full stop – but as good as we were winning collisions, we often failed to win the next ruck.

Our offensive breakdown was a constant source of lost possession and momentum.

I don’t think it’s an exaggeration to say that if we had been more efficient over our own ball, this game could have been way, way more comfortable. Some of that was down to good Leinster poaching but a lot of the time, I felt the timing and accuracy of our entries was a little off, but that can be a drawback when you’re playing a deep/wide system that looks to play the ball beyond the peak of the opposition blitz.

***

The winning of the game came down to some key moments of physical dominance and tactical clarity.

When you’ve got players who can win collisions like this, you’re always in with a chance of scoring. Without direction, however, it would all be for nothing. I wanted to see more from Nicole Cronin tactically and two kick moments off the boot were hugely encouraging in that regard, especially with Leinster’s wingers struggling to adjust with the spacing required in the 50/22 era.

She had a few errors kicking out of hand, sure, but she produced when it mattered. This was good stuff that had palpable positive outcomes for Munster.

The set-piece was solid, Munster’s lineout (offensively and defensively) was superior and even with our breakdown errors, handling errors and a relatively early try concession, I thought we were more than good value for the win and, if anything, it could have been more emphatic. That’s where I think this Munster side can go. Is it a different story with Leinster plus their internationals? Perhaps, but you could say the same of Munster, who were without Griffin, Wall, Considine and others.

This Interpro win was achieved off the back of some outstanding attacking rugby and excellent individual performances. The players and coaching staff deserve nothing but the highest praise for the way they approached this tournament from Day 1 and many of the players who starred here could well be asking what they have to do to get test caps. That’s for another day but for now…

… it’s just another win for the Bad Gals. 

Notable Players

This was a superb performance all the way through.

Four players stood out to me.

I thought Deirbhile Nic A Bhaird had a stunning performance off the bench. She played the entire second half and was remarkably effective. Remember, she’s a hooker. She started her career on the wing, then moved to sevens but as a hooker, she brings a unique set of skills that defies categorisation. She’s strong in contact, a good scrummager, a decent thrower and absolutely lethal on transition and in the wider spaces. Superb. ★★★★★

Maeve Óg O’Leary looked like the total package as a strike wing forward here. She’s still only 21 but she’s shown the ability to be a nuisance at the breakdown, an impact tackler and an absolute nightmare to tackle with the ball in hand. She carries way bigger than her stature and she featured heavily in Munster’s ball carrying rotation all through the lines here. This was a hugely encouraging performance from an outstanding young player in a big game. ★★★★★

Clodagh O’Halloran has some of the best offensive and defensive lineout jumping in this interprovincial series, full stop. She got five stars from me last week when she played a 4/6D flanker style role in the back row and she managed the same as she transitioned to the second row here.

On opposition ball, she’s got the athleticism and read of the game to make it look like they meant to throw the ball to her. Midway through the first half, Leinster had already resorted to shortened gimmick schemes to throw O’Halloran off.

On Munster’s throw, she was ultra-reliable and perfectly timed onto the ball, ably assisted by the excellent Siobhán McCarthy as her heavy-hitting partner and primary lifter and Kate Sheehan, who’s a really good Heavy Support Hooker. O’Halloran is proof positive of the evolving adage that “no lineout, no-win”. She took apart Connacht last week and really affected Leinster this week, all while showing up excellently around the field defensively and with the ball in hand. ★★★★★

Chloe Pearse should have been playing in Parma against Spain on Monday. Luckily for Munster, she was kicking ass and taking names in Energia Park instead. Make no mistake, this was a ball-carrying display that stacks up against anything I’ve seen in this game. Leinster had absolutely nothing for her in the tackle all day. This wasn’t just once or twice either.

I mean, good god. When you have a player that can dominate collisions like this, the game is just easier. Pearse is an absolute animal on-ball and she was a key point of difference for Munster in this game. When we gave her the ball, she got over the gain line – simple as that. She scrummaged well, impacted in defence and battered defenders consistently for 78 minutes while scoring two tries.

What more could you ask for? ★★★★★

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The Wally Ratings: Leinster (A)

The Wally Ratings explainer page is here.  

Players are rated based on their time on the pitch, if they were playing notably out of position, and on the overall curve of the team performance. DNP means the player did not feature and N/A means they weren’t on the pitch long enough to warrant a fair rating.

Names	Rating
Chloe Pearse	★★★★★
Kate Sheehan	★★★★
Fiona Reidy	★★★★
Siobhán McCarthy	★★★★
Clodagh O’Halloran	★★★★★
Anna Caplice	★★★★
Maeve Óg O’Leary	★★★★★
Sarah Quin	★★★★
Muirne Wall	★★★★
Nicole Cronin	★★★★
Stephanie Carroll	★★★
Stephanie Nunan	★★★★
Alana McInerney	★★★
Chisom Ugwueru	★★★
Aoife Doyle	★★★
Deirbhile Nic A Bhaird	★★★★★
Aoife Moore	N/A
Laura Delaney	★★★
Aaliyah Te Pou	N/A
Edel Murphy	N/A
Gemma Lane	★★★
Rachel Allen	N/A
Aoife Corey	★★★★