The Irish Interprovincial Series comes to a close this weekend with three teams in with a chance of lifting the title on another busy weekend of domestic action.
Elsewhere, England international Abby Dow is set to make her Harlequins debut against Gloucester-Hartpury in the Premier 15s on Sunday while Villorba will hope their international stars can help return them to second in the table with victory over Cus Torino in the Eccellenza Femminile.
And Blagnac Sporting continue their impressive form with a chance to extend their lead at the top of the Elite 1 Feminine against ASM Romagnat.
A tantalising final day in Ireland
Munster, Leinster and Connacht are all in with a chance at the title as the Irish Interprovinical Series sees its final weekend of action.
Munster travel to Connacht on the back of two wins from two and are best placed to retain the silverware provided they don’t suffer a heavy defeat.
The southern province side beat Connacht 31-7 last time out and just need a losing bonus point to secure the crown with a squad boasting Irish internationals Enya Breen, Amee-Leigh Murphy-Crowe and Dorothy Wall.
Leinster travel to Ulster in their final game of the series, with centre Aoife Dalton, wing Beibhinn Parsons and scrum-half Aoibheann Reilly among the TikTok Women’s Six Nations stars to watch.
The match will be available to watch on BBC iPlayer for viewers in the UK while Irish fans can tune in to TG4 for both games.
Dow makes her bow for Harlequins
Abby Dow’s debut at The Stoop will be highly anticipated following a dramatic 2022 for the winger.
The former Wasps player made headlines last year by bouncing back from a broken leg against Wales in the 2022 TikTok Women’s Six Nations to book a ticket to New Zealand for the Rugby World Cup in October.
She showed just what she could do with a superb semi-final try against Canada that saw her travel the full length of the pitch to cross and Dow will be hoping to make an instant impact for the London-based side.
Gloucester-Hartpury are currently top of the Premier 15s table and will travel to the capital protecting an unbeaten record.
Elsewhere, Exeter Chiefs welcome Bristol Bears to Sandy Park in what looks set to be another tightly contested match-up.
Ireland skipper Nichola Fryday and England’s Claudia MacDonald are both included in the Chiefs squad whilst Amber Reed leads out Bristol Bears as captain alongside Lark Davies and Sarah Bern.
Villorba and Torino in a battle for third
Reigning champions Valsugana cemented their place at the top of the Eccellenza Femminile table with a tense 5-3 victory over Villorba last weekend, Sofia Stefan running in for the sole try of the match.
Villorba slipped to third in the table with the defeat and now sit just one point ahead of Sunday’s opposition Cus Torino.
The 2022 runners-up include Sara Barratin, Beatrice Capomaggi and Alyssa D’Inca in their side as they welcome Torino.
At the other end of the table, Benetton Rugby Treviso and Rugby Parabiago will be battling for their first points of the season on Sunday.
Blagnac look to extend their lead
Blagnac Sporting have forged ahead in Pool B in the Elite 1 Feminine by taking the maximum 20 points after four games.
They will look to extend their lead further as they take on bottom side ASM Romagnat on Saturday.
Blagnac have a staggering 11 international players in their ranks whilst Romagnat can chose from the likes of France’s Jessy Tremouliere and Italy’s Francesca Sgorbini.
Bordeaux will be hoping for a second victory on the bounce after their 30-0 victory over RC Chilly Mazarin saw them jump to the top of the table in Pool A.
The league leaders take on reigning champions Toulouse, who have Pauline Bourdon and Maëlle Filopon among their charges.
