UL Bohemians will look to make it three in a row today when they face off against Blackrock College RFC in the Energia Women’s All-Ireland League final.
If successful in their title defence – which gets underway this afternoon at 14.30 – the Bohs will claim their 16th title and be the first team since Old Belvedere in 2016 to complete the three in a row.
In their way, stands a strong Blackrock side, who are looking for their first title since 2022.
The sides split the head-to-head during the regular season, each claiming an away win against their finals opponents.
In the final round, Blackrock handed the Bohs one of their two losses this season. Despite this, the Limerick outfit still finished atop the table on points difference.
“We’re very lucky, we have really good depth in our squad,” said Connacht and Bohs outside back Clara Barrett.
“So even where we’ve lost players through injuries and being away with different teams and stuff, we’ve had girls to step in and make an impact, so we’re really lucky that way, and I think that’s kept us on winning terms.”
It’s the third year in a row the Limerick side have finished in the top two of the league. Considering this season saw a change in coaching in Annacotty, with Sarah Quinn taking over from UL Bohs legend Fiona Hayes, it’s a remarkable level of consistency.
Munster and UL Bohemians scrum-half Abbie Salter-Townshend says it was the natural appointment.
“I think it was a fairly fluid transition because Quinnie was involved in the coaching staff last year as well, so just for her to step into the leadership role this year, I think she was quite comfortable with it and we all know how her brain works, so it was a pretty smooth transition to push on for this year.”
And push on they did, with the league and qualifying rounds behind them, all that’s left is their Aviva clash. It’s a challenge Barrett is looking forward to.
“[The Aviva] is a pretty special pitch to run out on, to do it three years in a row makes it that bit more special. I feel like there is a bit of pressure on us but we kind of enjoy that, we relish that pressure and I think we’ve built really well on it.”
There’s a little bit extra to this matchup, with Blackrock being the last team to end the Bohs season prematurely, besting them in the 2022 semi-final in Donnybrook. Reflecting on that game, and their recent loss in Annacotty Salter-Townshend believes, “it was a tough game, but I think we took a lot of learnings from that and we’ll definitely be able to build on our structure and how we want to play the game and to kind of take what Blackrock do and build off of how we want to defend that and how we want to get the ball back.”
While the Bohs are missing five of their internationals due to Women’s Six Nations duty, Barrett believes they still have the experience needed to get over the line.
“There are some girls that bring a wealth of experience and having them on the pitch, just their presence makes so much difference, they’re so reliable and they’re always going to put out a good performance.”