The IRFU Women's Interprovincial Series, previously known as the IWRFU Interprovincial Championship, is the top level women's rugby union competition in

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

. It is organised by the

Irish Rugby Football Union The Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU) () 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 ground at Aviva Stadium, where a ...

. It is the women's equivalent of the

IRFU Interprovincial Championship The IRFU Interprovincial Championship was a rugby union competition between the four provinces of Ireland – Ulster, Leinster, Munster and Connacht – and, for a brief period the Irish Exiles, run by the Irish Rugby Football Union. History Or ...

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

Connacht Connacht or Connaught ( ; or ), is the smallest of the four provinces of Ireland, situated in the west of Ireland. Until the ninth century it consisted of several independent major Gaelic kingdoms (Uí Fiachrach, Uí Briúin, Uí Maine, C ...

Leinster Leinster ( ; or ) is one of the four provinces of Ireland, in the southeast of Ireland. The modern province comprises the ancient Kingdoms of Meath, Leinster and Osraige, which existed during Gaelic Ireland. Following the 12th-century ...

Munster Munster ( or ) is the largest of the four provinces of Ireland, located in the south west of the island. In early Ireland, the Kingdom of Munster was one of the kingdoms of Gaelic Ireland ruled by a "king of over-kings" (). Following the Nor ...

and

Ulster Ulster (; or ; or ''Ulster'') is one of the four traditional or historic provinces of Ireland, Irish provinces. It is made up of nine Counties of Ireland, counties: six of these constitute Northern Ireland (a part of the United Kingdom); t ...

. 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 ...

that competes in the subsequent Women's Six Nations Championship. 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 Six Nations, branded as Guinness M6N) is an annual international rugby union competition by the teams of England, France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales. It is the oldest sports tournament conte ...

and the Women's Six Nations Championship. Each team plays the other three teams once. The following year the fixtures are reversed. In recent 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