Leinster duel with Ulster for Interpro final spot

With one round of the Vodafone Women's Interprovincial Championship series remaining, it’s a shootout between Leinster and Ulster to see who can join Munster in next weekend’s final.

Fiona Hayes’ Munster outfit have already beaten Ulster (29-22) and Leinster (32-21) and their tally of 10 points guarantees a place in the decider in Belfast ahead of Saturday’s clash with Connacht in Galway (2.30pm).

Champions Leinster, second place in the table on five points, missed out on a bonus point in last weekend’s loss in Cork but know that a win or a draw with Ulster will be enough to face off against Munster in what would be a repeat of last season’s final.

They will be overwhelming favourites at the Kingspan Stadium(4.45pm) but Ulster can take huge heart from their dogged performances so far.

Trailing to Munster and Connacht over the last two weekends, Murray Houston’s side scored two late tries in both games to carve out four points, a respectable tally given that last season’s win over the Westerners was their first Interpro victory in 12 years.

There have been 32 tries scored (plus a penalty try) across the four games so far and the improvement in quality has been notable.

Indeed, only one of the four matches, Leinster's 38-19 win over Connacht didn’t go down to the wire and spectators were kept entertained throughout.

Asked about the standards, Hayes, who handed debuts to seven players over the two games, stressed the value of the training programmes that have nurtured potential talent from an early age.

"It's got to do a lot with those programmes at Munster, Connacht, Ulster and Leinster," the former Ireland prop told RTÉ Sport.

"These girls now have a year of that national talent camp where they're in training and I think it's