Leinster will use January blues to take on Munster

Elise O'Byrne White says Leinster can harness the hurt from last season’s loss to Munster to get them over the line this afternoon when the teams meet in the final of the Vodafone Women’s Interprovincial Championship.

While the last tournament was decided on a straight league format, this season will conclude with a 'Finals Day' in Musgrave Park, with Ulster and Connacht meeting in the third-fourth place play-off (2pm) and Munster and Leinster meeting in the decider (4.45pm).

Tania Rosser’s Dublin-based side overcame a shock opening-round loss to Connacht to earn a spot in the final thanks to a big win over Ulster and last weekend’s 26-19 success over Munster, in what was the defending champions’ first loss in ten outings.

One of their victories in that run came in round two last January when they ran out 26-17 winners over Leinster.

It’s that reverse that wing O’Byrne White (below), capped by Ireland in 2016, says will motivate her side.

"I think we all felt that game, we were particularly disappointed in how we performed ourselves," said the 32-year-old, a veterinarian who also features in the RTÉ series The Shelter: Animal SOS.

"We didn’t show up physically and our heads just weren’t in the game and that was the most disappointing part as a group, we feel we could have done so much better.

"So we’ve taken that, definitely still feel it and I think that’s been used to sharpen our focus this season.

"We’re all aware of what we left behind last [January] and I think we’re using that this week. While we’re still focusing on ourselves and our own performance that is still a good driving factor.

"I’m expecting a really big game. We got the win at the weekend but there is still a lot of work to be done.

"Our expectation as a group is