Tania Rosser confident of finding balance with professionals ahead of Interpro series

Leinster head coach Tania Rosser is confident they can juggle the schedules of their IRFU-contracted players for this month's Vodafone Women's Interprovincial Series.

Rosser confirmed a 31-woman squad for the upcoming series, which starts against Connacht at Energia Park on Saturday.

Ireland internationals Hannah O'Connor and Christy Haney will co-captain the squad, and while they can't call upon their Sevens internationals Lucy Mulhall and Stacey Flood, they have been able to include out-half Dannah O'Brien and centre Aoife Dalton, who are both on IRFU contracts after making their Test debuts against Japan last summer.

Another IRFU contracted player, Leah Tarpey, could also be involved later in the series, having suffered a calf injury in their recent warm-up fixture against Ulster.

Leinster will only have a timeshare on their professional players during the Interpro window however, with O'Brien and Dalton set to combine their training between Ireland and the province.

"We won't have sole access, but we'll work in partnership with the IRFU," Rosser said.

"We know that their process is very important now that they're contracted. In fairness to the girls that are involved out there, they've been to every single session even if they haven't trained, so they're always up to speed.

"They'll be at training tonight [Monday], they won't train but will be in training tomorrow night and the captains run. We just work alongside Greg and Ed Slattery [IRFU women's head of athletic performance] on their load."

The Interprovincial series will act as a precursor to the new Celtic Cup competition which will begin on 29 January, which will see a Combined Provinces XV go up against Scottish and Welsh opponents, before the Six Nations later in the