Fruit and vegetable supplier Donnelly is to sponsor Leinster women's rugby for the next three years.

The Co Dublin company will use the slogan "powering the mighty" in promotions linked to the sponsorship, which it said fit with its marketing of a "healthy, active lifestyle" and complemented its position
"as a winning Irish
business".

Michael Dawson, chief executive of Leinster Rugby, said the women's team had "been making great strides both on and off the pitch" but that this would not be possible without the support of
sponsors such as Donnelly.

“I am delighted that they have committed in the way that they have,” he said.

Women's rugby has grown in popularity in recent years and was boosted by the Irish team's Grand Slam win in last year's Six Nations.

The national team is now backed by insurance company Aon in a deal announced just last month, but – in something of a lost opportunity for the corporate sector – it had no sponsor during the 2013 victorious run.

Attention on the game, meanwhile, is set to increase further in the run-up to this summer's World Cup in France.