Connacht will kick off the PwC Women’s U18 Interprovincial Championship with an away game against Munster later this month.
The IRFU has announced the fixtures for the 2023/24 Championship this morning, with the tournament now taking place alongside the Senior Championship in to further underline its importance in the development pathway.
The championship will run over three weekends of round-robin action before the knockout stages take place in February.
Munster will host Connacht for the first match of the season at Musgrave Park on Saturday, August 19.
Connacht’s next game will be against be against Ulster at Corinthians Park on Saturday, August 26, and the Round 3 fixture against Leinster will be held on September 2, also at Corinthians.
The 2023/23 Championship was launched today at the IRFU High Performance Centre with Siofra Hession (Connacht), Ruby Starrett (Ulster), Rebecca Brennan (Leinster) and Niamh Crotty (Munster) in attendance, alongside IRFU President Greg Barrett and Doone O’Doherty, PwC Partner.
Amanda Greensmith, IRFU Women’s Development Manager, said, “We are excited to be launching the fixtures for the PwC Women’s U18 Interprovincial Championship, which continues to evolve into an important development platform in our Women’s pathway structure.”
“It is important we positioned the competition alongside the Women’s Championship in the season calendar, and the addition of double-header match days at Energia Park and Musgrave Park to the schedule is the result of lots of hard work from all stakeholders involved.”
“We look forward to three rounds of exciting and competitive round-robin action, which provides our best young players from around the country with access to top-class coaching and the high-level exposure required to fast-track their development as rugby players.”
Enda McDonagh, Managing Partner, PwC Ireland, added, “At PwC we are proud to support the U18 Women’s Interprovincial Championship, a key component of the development pathway for the next generation in women’s rugby.”
“Supporting excellence and recognising talent is paramount to the future success of business and all of our communities.”
PwC Women’s U18 Interprovincial Championship Fixtures:
Round 1: Saturday, August 19
- Munster v Connacht, Musgrave Park, 12pm
- Leinster v Ulster, Energia Park, 3pm
Round 2: Saturday, August 26
- Connacht v Ulster, Corinthians RFC, 12pm
- Leinster v Munster, Energia Park, 2pm
Round 3: Saturday, September 2
- Ulster v Munster, Ballymena RFC, 12pm
- Connacht v Leinster, Corinthians RFC, 2pm
Semi-finals, Thursday, February 15
- TBC
Finals, Sunday, February 18
- TBC
