Beth Buttimer has spent August making selection pressure look like scoreboard value.
The 21-year-old hooker scored twice at Dexcom Stadium as Munster beat Leinster 14-5 to retain the Vodafone Women’s Interprovincial Championship title. It was Munster’s second successive Interpro crown, their 17th overall, and another clear marker of their position at the top of the provincial game.
Buttimer’s final performance also completed a standout individual campaign. She finished the Interpros as the competition’s top scorer with eight tries, strengthening her case ahead of the WXV Global Series and what looks like a realistic push towards a first Ireland cap.
Munster came into the final with the better record and left with it intact. Matt Brown’s side completed a four-match clean sweep for the second season in a row, having also beaten Leinster 39-19 in the opening round three weeks earlier.
Leinster, champions in 2023 and 2024, started with early territory and pressure, but Munster’s defence held. Enya Breen was shown a yellow card inside the opening minutes, yet Leinster were unable to turn the extra player into points.
Buttimer broke the game open after 21 minutes, finishing low after Lucia Linn had been put through a gap by Caitríona Finn. Finn converted to make it 7-0.
Leinster responded before half-time through Kathy Baker, who forced her way over in the corner after Sarah Delaney and Dannah O’Brien had moved the ball wide. O’Brien’s conversion struck the post, leaving Munster 7-5 ahead at the break.
The second half became a test of accuracy in wet conditions. Leinster had chances, including a spell of pressure close to the Munster line, but Munster repeatedly found ways out through their defence, scrum and breakdown work.
The decisive score came with 10 minutes left. Munster won a scrum penalty, built field position, then turned to the maul. Buttimer delivered again, grounding for her second try and the score that put Munster more than a converted try clear. Breen added the conversion from the left.
Nineteen players from Ireland’s training squad for the upcoming international series were involved in the final. Leinster’s Ruth Campbell was forced off through injury, a concern for Ireland head coach Scott Bemand ahead of the next block.
Earlier on finals day, Ulster beat Connacht 29-10 in the third-fourth place play-off. It was Ulster’s first Women’s Interprovincial Championship win in three years, with Maebh Clenaghan scoring twice and Fiona Tuite-O’Sullivan named player of the match.
For Munster, the final confirmed what the round-robin stage had already suggested. They had the depth, the defence and, when the game narrowed, the more decisive finisher.
