Danske Bank Ulster Schools’ Cup Quarter-Final Previews Saturday 21st February 2015.
There are four Danske Bank Ulster Schools’ Cup Quarter-Final games scheduled to be played on Saturday 21st February.
Royal Belfast Academical Institution will host the Royal School, Armagh team in a Danske Bank Ulster Schools’ Quarter-Final encounter on Saturday 21st February. The Belfast Inst team had little trouble in overcoming the challenge provided by a spirited Regent House team in the 3rd Round of the Danske Bank Ulster Schools’ Cup. Team coaches, Dan Soper and Richard Hedley, will expect the Royal School, Armagh team to provide a much more challenging test of the Schools’ Cup credentials of the Belfast Inst team. They will prepare their team accordingly. There is a very positive feeling within the Royal Belfast Academical Institution squad at the minute that this could be their year to experience Danske Bank Ulster Schools’ Cup success! Team captain, Lewis McNamara, ably assisted by his vice-captain, Michael Mairs, will not allow their players to take anything for granted as they prepare to welcome the Royal School, Armagh team to Osborne Park on Saturday. There is an abundance of talent in this Belfast Inst squad. Conor Field has represented the Danske Bank Ulster Schools’ team while Michael Lowry is recognised as a very talented outhalf. They will hope that Michael will be fit enough to, at least, take his place in the extended squad for this game. Having said that, his replacement in the last round, Paddy Dologhan, did a great job in keeping the Belfast Inst pack on the front foot, as well as creating attacking opportunities for his backs, in the course of that game. There is strength in depth available to the Belfast Inst coaching team.TJ Morris, James Hume, Calum McLaughlin, Jack Conlin and Ben McGavock all bring creativity, pace and power to the Belfast Inst team. In the Belfast Inst pack, Lewis McNamara gets great support from fellow back row players such as Patrick Nicholas and Ethan Harbinson. Their effectiveness at the breakdown could have a big say in the eventual outcome of this game. The Royal Belfast Academical Institution squad consists of a good mixture of youth and experience. There are winners competing for every position and the starting fifteen will be keen to ensure their tag as favourites to win this Danske Bank Ulster Schools’ Cup game is fully justified. They have lost just once this season to a school team from Ulster. They will want to have that statistic still in place at the end of the game on Saturday.
The Royal School, Armagh team will be delighted to be seen as outsiders to win this Danske Bank Ulster Schools’ Cup encounter. Team coaches, Gareth Beggs and David Dougherty, realise their charges might have been somewhat fortunate to come away from Limavady Grammar School with a narrow victory at the end of their 3rd Round encounter. They were only the width of a cross bar from going out of this season’s Danske Bank Ulster Schools’ Cup. However, they did come through and will be going all out to gain a place in the semi-final of this prestigious competition. The coaches, as well as the players, can call upon the experiences of the redoubtable Kenny Hooks to assist them as they prepare for what will be a challenging encounter. Kenny had many years with his hands on the helm as he prepared Royal School, Armagh teams to mount successful challenges in the Ulster Schools’ Cup. His sage advice could be critical, as well as welcomed, on Saturday. Everyone associated with the RS Armagh team will realise the game against the Belfast Inst will require them to really lift their performance. There have been glimpses in their Danske Bank Ulster Schools’ Cup campaign as to how much the squad has progressed since the start of the season. Players such as Chris Jennings, Matthew McSorley and their Danske Bank Ulster Schools’ prop, Philip Matthews, have all scored tries in previous rounds. Their impressive team captain, Michael Thompson, has displayed great game management skills as well as weighing in with some fine kicking skills off the tee. Michael can call upon some experienced fellow backs, such as Jack Campbell, Josh Agnew, Kenneth Graham and Matthew McSorley, to assist him with his leadership responsibilities. Josh Agnew will hope to have his brother David available for selection on the opposite wing with David having recently recovered from an injury setback. The McSorley brothers, James and Matthew, participate together in the Danske Bank Ulster Schools’ Cup for the second year in a row. They will all be keen to assist in maintaining the proud tradition Royal School, Armagh teams have built up in the Danske Bank Ulster Schools’ Cup competitions in the recent past.
This Danske Bank Ulster Schools’ Cup Quarter-Final game is scheduled to kick off at 11-00 am.
Coleraine Academical Institution will see themselves as clear favourites to progress to the Danske Bank Ulster Schools’ Cup Semi-Finals as they prepare to host their close friends from Co Tyrone, Omagh Academy. The Coleraine AI team “escaped” from Down High School with an injury time score in the 3rd Round of the Danske Bank Ulster Schools’ Cup to win a place in the quarter-final. They will not really want a repeat performance on Saturday if the nerves of their large group of spectators are to remain intact!! The Coleraine AI coaches, Richard Beggs and Stephen Douglas, both played in Ulster Schools’ Cup games that went to the wire. They will be encouraging their squad to take nothing for granted but to get this one sown up early and take the pressure off. They are a confident team which has justified their inclusion as one of the top seeded teams in the 2014/5 Danske Bank Ulster Schools’ Cup competition. The coaches will look to the experience that players such as Daniel McAllister, Oliver McDowell, James Bleakly and team captain, Peter Bonnar bring to the Coleraine AI pack. These players are in their third season on the team and are hopeful of going one stage further than they did when they reached the semi-finals of last season’s Danske Bank Ulster Schools’ Cup. Their experience has assisted in the development of players such as Ulster Schools’ U18 squad members such as Peter Weisener, Christi Hamilton and David Greatorex in the Coleraine AI pack. They will provide a formidable challenge for their Omagh Academy counterparts. The Coleraine AI backline may not be as experienced as their pack in terms of Danske Bank Ulster Schools’ Cup appearances. Andrew Weisener is entering into his third year of Danske Bank Ulster Schools’ Cup Rugby and his advice to younger players such as Thomas Lavery and Connor Skuce will be vital. Bruce Campbell and Calum Smyth have formed a more than useful half back partnership, which has displayed consistently good game management skills all season. Calum is a first class place kicker who, if he can bring an error free game with him on Saturday, has the potential to cause problems for the Omagh Academy defence. The Omagh Academy discipline will need to be of the highest order if Calum is to be denied the opportunity of punishing the opposition with his trusty boot.
This Danske Bank Ulster Schools’ Cup Quarter-Final game is scheduled to kick off at 11-00 am.
The Omagh Academy team will realise they have nothing to fear as they prepare to make the trip to Coleraine for their Danske Bank Ulster Schools’ Cup Quarter-Final clash on Saturday 21st. They will be delighted to be labelled as underdogs and will look upon this Danske Bank Ulster Schools’ Cup Quarter-Final encounter against Coleraine AI as an opportunity to cause another major upset in the Ulster Schools’ Cup. Over the years many teams from Omagh Academy have caused upsets in the competition and one of the men responsible for his teams causing those upsets is still very much in vogue in rugby circles in Omagh Academy. That man is, of course, Jackie Reid who assists Ross Hunter, the Omagh Academy coach, in preparing the current squad of players. Jack will claim he not only has coached some of the current squad’s fathers-but maybe grandfathers as well!! The Omagh Academy team has been on the road for both their previous encounters in this season’s Danske Bank Ulster Schools’ Cup. They won those games with something to spare and will not be put off by a trip to Coleraine. They will see it as an opportunity to complete an “away” hat trick. Ross Hunter and Jackie Reid, feel this Omagh Academy team has much more to offer and will encourage their talented group of players to fulfil their potential on Saturday. They have a squad of players that is keen to do well. They have caused many upsets in the games they have played this season and can see no reason why the Omagh Academy team cannot be in the draw for the Semi-Finals of the Danske Bank Ulster’ Schools’ Cup. Team captain, Adam Stephenson, has seen his players come through with thirteen victories out of the sixteen games they have played this season. They defeated a strong RBAI “Select” xv early in the season, a win that laid down a positive marker for this Omagh Academy team. In true Omagh Academy fashion, it has been the performances of the pack that have laid the foundations for the success the team has experienced. Ulster Schools’ RDS members, Joshua McKinley and James Longwell, nephew of former Ulster and Ireland 2nd Row Forward, Gary, are both key members of an Omagh Academy pack that can also boast of the talents of players such as Matthew Sproule, Jonny Anderson and Matthew Clyde. These players will be under pressure to produce quality possession so that Fintan Lagan and team vice-captain, Stuart Ballentine, can bring their exciting backs into play. Adam Stephenson has scored nineteen tries this season with Andrew Monteith not far behind. Chris Hemphill and Dean Kane are two more Omagh Academy backs that love to get the ball in their hands. There is more to this Omagh Academy team than just forward power. Stuart Ballentine, as well as displaying good game management skills, also displays great ability will the ball off the tee. He will be delighted to add to the ninety points he has scored already in games this season. The Omagh Academy team has conceded only two tries in their Danske Bank Ulster Schools’ Cup campaign this season. If they can maintain that defensive discipline and get sufficient quality possession from their pack, the Omagh Academy team will be hoping it could be a hard day in the office for the Coleraine AI team on Saturday.
This Danske Bank Ulster Schools’ Cup Quarter-Final game is scheduled to kick off at 11-00 am.
Perhaps the Danske Bank Ulster Schools’ Cup Quarter-Final game that will qualify for the “Match of the Day” tag will be the game that will take place at Fox’s Field when the Campbell College team will entertain their cross town rivals from Methodist College. The Campbell College team came through a tough encounter when they travelled to Sullivan Upper in the previous round of the Danske Bank Ulster Schools’ Cup. Few people, outside of Campbell College, expected them to win that game but win it they did! Team coaches, Brian Robinson and Gareth Fry, had done their homework on the opposition on that occasion and their victory was recognised on all sides as being well deserved. They will have done their homework on the Methodist College team as they prepare to meet on Saturday. They have won eight of their games played against schools from Ulster this season and will be looking for a ninth win on Saturday. Brian Robinson and Gareth Fry have a talented group of players from which to select their team. There are quite a few Year 13 players in the squad who have experienced success in a Danske Bank Ulster Schools’ competition. The Year 13 players were Danske Bank Ulster Schools’ Medallion Shield winners two seasons ago. They are keen to replicate that success in the Danske Bank Ulster Schools’ Cup. Ten of the Campbell college squad were involved last season and there are seven Danske Bank Ulster Schools’ U17 and U18 players available for selection on Saturday. Daniel Kealey, Adam Walmsley and Jack Barry Glendinning, the try scorer against Sullivan Upper, are members of an abrasive Campbell College pack that will ask questions of their Methodist College counterparts. They certainly did, most successfully, against a very powerful Sullivan Upper pack. If the Campbell College pack can produce the quality possession required by their backline then players such as Cameron Stewart, an astute tactician, Jack Howard, Jonny Haldane and Rory Butler have the ability to cause problems for any opposition team. These young men love to play with the ball in hand and are capable of launching attacks from anywhere on the pitch. Rory Butler and Daniel Kealey share the captaincy responsibilities on the Campbell College team. Both led from the front in their previous Danske Bank Ulster Schools’ Cup encounter against Sullivan Upper with Rory gaining the plaudits from all sections as being the outstanding player on the pitch. They will be going all out to ensure their team comes away from this eagerly anticipated encounter with a victory on Saturday.
The Methodist College team had to work hard for their Danske Bank Ulster Schools’ Cup 3rd victory at Ballymena Academy. They started that game strongly, maybe fell off the pace slightly and then finished the game with a dominant performance. Team coaches, Nicky Wells and Stephen Lindsay, will realise their team will not be able to ease up at any stage against Campbell College if they are to maintain their quest for what would be a remarkable “Four in a Row” Danske Bank Ulster Schools’ Cup wins. Nicky Wells and Stephen Lindsay will feel their charges are hitting winning Schools’ Cup form at just the right time of the season. They will travel to play Campbell College in a very confident mood. There is an array of talent in the Methodist College squad that is possibly unequalled by any school in the Province. Ben O’Reilly, team captain, Saul Herdman and Alex McAllister, in the Methodist College front row, have rarely been troubled by any of their opposition counterparts this season. They will think no differently about Saturday. If they, along with their fellow forwards such as Matthew McKinney, Daniel Coulter and the very dynamic Zach Jordan, have laid the foundations for the success of the Methodist College team this season, it is in the Methody backline where there is outstanding talent to be seen. Danny Gray is an emerging scrum half who has attracted the attention of the Ulster Rugby Talent ID Department while his half back partner, Gareth Millar, is an astute No 10 who has benefitted from the experience of playing for the Ulster U19 team. Another Ulster U19 player, Ali McIvor, in the Methodist College midfield, is a very strong defensive player as well as being a very creative attacking player. His creativity, alongside that of his midfield partner Matthew Jamison, has presented attack minded wide players, such as Conor Kelly, Josh Jordan and Robert Lyttle, with the opportunity to display their highly developed attacking skills on countless occasions this season. Robert is also a first class goal kicker who will punish any opposition indiscretions committed with his strike range. Conor was involved with the Ireland U18 School team last season and Robert is currently involved this season. Their Danske Bank Ulster Schools’ Cup performances will be closely monitored by Ireland Schools’ advisors in attendance at the Danske Bank Ulster Schools’ Cup games.
This Danske Bank Ulster Schools’ Cup Quarter-Final game will attract a lot of attention and is scheduled to kick off at 10-30 am.
The Ballyclare High School team is hoping to emulate the success of recent Ballyclare HS teams that reached, at least, the semi-final stage of the Danske Bank Ulster Schools’ Cup. However, their job is not made any easier by the fact they meet Wallace High School, a team seen as favourites by many observers to win the Danske Bank Ulster Schools’ Cup, in the quarter-finals on Saturday 21st. The Ballyclare High School team was reasonably comfortable in their 3rd Round victory against a committed Bangor Grammar School team. Team coaches, Michael Orchin-McKeever and Gareth Shaw, will realise their squad will need to raise the bar significantly if they are to have any chance of causing an upset and defeating the currently unbeaten Wallace High School team on Saturday. They have worked hard to ensure their squad has peaked at just the right time. They had a successful run of games in the first term and see no reason why this good form should not continue in the course of their Danske Bank Ulster Schools’ Cup campaign. Team captain, Matthew McDowell, was an ever present with the Ulster Schools’ U18 squad while Jack Magee gained great experience through his involvement with the same squad. Owen Kirk, Alistair Burke, Jack Black, Jack Lewis and Zachary McMorran have all been involved with the Ulster Schools’ U17 squad. These players have benefitted greatly from working at Elite Age grade level. They will hope the skills developed with the Age Grade squads will stand them in good stead as they prepare for their tough Danske Bank Ulster Schools’ Cup outing against Wallace High School. The Ballyclare High school team has displayed the ability to score tries from almost anywhere on the pitch this season. They will go all out to score more tries on Saturday.
The Wallace High School team, having made the journey to Portora Royal School in the previous round of the Danske Bank Ulster Schools’ Cup and come away with a convincing victory, is now seen as almost the out and out favourites to win the Danske Bank Ulster Schools’ Cup. They are unbeaten in the course of the current season and will happily deal with the tag of favourites as they prepare for their trip to Ballyclare. Team coaches, Derek Suffern and Neil Hinds, will instil into their players that they must take nothing for granted. Success will only come through hard work, attention to detail and a belief from everyone they have the ability to succeed. They have an exceptionally talented group of players from which to select their final 23! They have fifteen players who were involved with last season’s squad, a squad that reached the semi-finals of the Danske Bank Ulster Schools’ Cup. The current squad would be confident of going at least one stage further this season. Ben Pentland, Ben Finlay, Jonny Stewart and Neil Kilpatrick have represented Ulster Schools at U18 level while Andrew Cardosi has played for the Ulster U19 team. Andrew has made a tremendous recovery from a shoulder injury and his progress has been monitored by members of the Ireland U19 Management team. Neil and Jonny are both very talented scrum halves so it could be something of a dilemma for the coaches as to which one will start with the No 9 jersey on his back. Sam Moore, as the Wallace High School captain, has great faith in the ability of all the players in the squad. They have defeated teams from Ulster, Leinster and Munster in the course of the current season. A training camp in Johnstown has helped in their preparation for a serious assault on the Danske Bank Ulster Schools’ Cup. Attention to detail is paramount in the philosophy of the Wallace High School coaching staff. Nothing will be left to chance as they prepare to continue their Danske Bank Ulster Schools’ Cup campaign in Ballyclare on Saturday.
This Danske Bank Ulster Schools’ Cup Quarter-Final game is scheduled to kick off at 11-00 am.
As well as the four Danske Bank Ulster Schools’ Cup Quarter-Final games scheduled to take place on Saturday 21st February, there are four Danske Bank Ulster Schools’ Subsidiary Shield Quarter-Final games and two Danske Bank Ulster Schools’ Bowl Semi-Final games due to take place on Saturday 21st February.
In the Danske Bank Ulster Schools’ Subsidiary Shield Quarter-Finals, Sullivan Upper School will play Ballymena Academy at 10-45 am, Regent House will play Carrickfergus Grammar School at 10-30 am, Down High School will play Bangor Grammar School at 10-30 am and Limavady Grammar School will play Portora Royal School at 11-00 am.
In the Danske Bank Ulster Schools’ Bowl Semi-Finals, Dalriada School will play Banbridge Academy at 11-00 am and the Rainey Endowed School team will play Foyle and Londonderry College at 10-45 am.
The final of the Danske Bank Ulster Schools’ Trophy competition will take place at Banbridge Academy on Wednesday 25th February. The final will feature teams from the Royal School, Dungannon and Lurgan College. This game is scheduled to kick off at 2-30 pm.
On Saturday 21st February the draws for the semi-finals of the Danske Bank Ulster Schools’ Subsidiary Shield and the Danske Bank Ulster Schools’ Cup competitions will take place at Coleraine Academical Institution once all the results of the Schools’ Cup and Subsidiary Shield Quarter-Final games played that morning are known.
