The IRFU Women's Interprovincial Series, previously known as the IWRFU Interprovincial Championship, is the top level

women's rugby union Women's rugby union is a full contact team sport based on running with the ball in hand. The same laws are used in men's rugby union with the same sized pitch and same equipment. Rugby was originally a men's sport, and women's rugby has become p ...

competition in

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

. It is organised by the

Irish Rugby Football Union The Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU) ( ga, Cumann Rugbaí na hÉireann) is the body managing rugby union in the island of Ireland (both Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland). The IRFU has its head office at 10/12 Lansdowne Road and home ...

. It is the women's equivalent of the

IRFU Interprovincial Championship The IRFU Interprovincial Championship was an Irish Rugby Football Union competition run between the four provinces of Ireland - Ulster, Leinster, Munster and Connacht. The Irish Exiles took part for four years (1992–93 – 1995–96). The competi ...

. The competition takes place every December and features four teams representing

Connacht Connacht ( ; ga, Connachta or ), is one of the provinces of Ireland, in the west of Ireland. Until the ninth century it consisted of several independent major Gaelic kingdoms (Uí Fiachrach, Uí Briúin, Uí Maine, Conmhaícne, and Delbhn ...

Leinster Leinster ( ; ga, Laighin or ) is one of the provinces of Ireland, situated in the southeast and east of Ireland. The province comprises the ancient Kingdoms of Meath, Leinster and Osraige. Following the 12th-century Norman invasion of Ir ...

Munster Munster ( gle, an Mhumhain or ) is one of the provinces of Ireland, in the south of Ireland. In early Ireland, the Kingdom of Munster was one of the kingdoms of Gaelic Ireland ruled by a "king of over-kings" ( ga, rí ruirech). Following the ...

and

Ulster Ulster (; ga, Ulaidh or ''Cúige Uladh'' ; sco, label= Ulster Scots, Ulstèr or ''Ulster'') is one of the four traditional Irish provinces. It is made up of nine counties: six of these constitute Northern Ireland (a part of the United King ...

. The competition effectively acts as a selection trials process for the

Ireland women's national rugby union team The Ireland women's national rugby union team represents Ireland in international women's rugby union competitions such as the Women's Six Nations Championship and the Women's Rugby World Cup. They have also represented Ireland in the FIRA Wom ...

that competes in the subsequent

Women's Six Nations Championship The Women's Six Nations Championship, known as the TikTok Women's Six Nations for sponsorship purposes, is an international rugby union competition contested between six European women's national teams. It started in the 1995–96 season as the ...

. Since 2016 the IRFU has also organised a similar under 18s competition.

Format

The competition currently uses a round-robin format, similar to the one used in both the

Six Nations Championship The Six Nations Championship (known as the Guinness Six Nations for sponsorship reasons) is an annual international men's rugby union competition between the teams of England, France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales. The current champions ar ...

and the

. Each team plays the other three teams once. The following year the fixtures are reversed. In previous seasons the competition has also featured

playoffs The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eithe ...

and a final.

Winners

^ ''Munster win title due to superior points table difference'' ^^ ''Both sides finished the campaign with two wins and a loss but Leinster's superior scoring difference +52 during round-robin (Connaught's +26)'' ^* ''Both sides finished the campaign with two wins and a draw but Leinster's superior scoring difference +64 during round-robin (Munster's +37)''

All-time record

References

{{Women's rugby union Women's rugby union competitions in Ireland Rugby union competitions in Europe for clubs and provinces