The following fixtures will take place on Saturday. This is actually Round 1 of the competition and a preliminary round which included Strabane Academy for the first time in a few years resulted in Antrim Grammar proceeding to the 1st round of the competition where they will play Banbridge Academy. The full schedule of games is
Banbridge Academy v Antrim Grammar School
Friends’ School, Lisburn v Portadown College
Limavady Grammar School v Wellington College
Regent House v Royal School Dungannon
Cambridge House Grammar School v Grosvenor Grammar School
Carrickfergus Grammar School v Lurgan College
Foyle College v Larne Grammar School
Antrim Grammar School rugby is an expanding and successful club which is open to all ages and all abilities. The club looks to promote the qualities of discipline, teamwork, sportsmanship, hard work, respect and fair-play throughout its teams. This is complimented by coaching staff who strive to provide a safe and fun environment for all our players as they work to improve skills, fitness, knowledge and understanding of the game of Rugby Football. They field sides from U12 to I XV. Banbridge Academy: No stranger to rugby for sure! They’ve been involved from the early days. The Academy now regularly turn out A and B teams at all junior levels and have three senior teams competing in the various schools cup competitions. Investment has taken place in coaching and the School has seen numbers of rugby players increasing! Friends’ School: has competed in the Schools’ Cup throughout the history of the competition. Portadown College Rugby Rugby has always been the main school sport for boys since its establishment in 1924. Its XV team photographs dated from the season 1924 – 1925 still dawn the corridors throughout the school. Participation in the Ulster Schools’ Cup has been, and still is, the pinnacle for every rugby playing school boy in Ulster and Portadown College is no exception. PC reached the Semi-Final in the season 1981 – 82 and more recently the season 1997 – 98 under the captaincy of Mark Best, brother of both Simon and Rory. Portadown College too has been well represented on Ulster and Irish School Squads and currently have 8 boys involved with the Ulster age group squads. Limavady Grammar School LGS has participated in the Schools Cup since 1957. The school has a proud tradition of taking overseas tours for 1st, 2nd and 3rd XV’s every 3 years. The school first toured South Africa in 1997 and has toured the Rainbow nation in 2000, 2006 and 2009. They toured again in 2012. The school also toured Canada in 2002. Wellington College Sport has always been a priority at Wellington College and they provide students the opportunity to take part in a wide variety of sporting activities including rugby. Investment has taken place and rugby is thriving in the school. Regent House has won both the Ulster Schools’ Cup and Medallion Shield. Regent has appeared in 4 Schools’ Cup Finals; the first in 1977, where they lost out to Royal School Armagh 12-9. Future Irish International Phillip Matthews and current Ulster Head Coach Brian McLaughlin played in the game however future British Lion Nigel Carr missed the occasion due to injury.Regent would next reach the final in 1994 where they defeated Wallace HS 8-3 in what has proved to be their only outright victory. Two years later, Regent shared the Schools’ Cup with Methodist College following a 9-9 draw. They had a promising 1st XV in the 06/07 campaign, but fell short in the 4th round. Regent reached their fourth Schools’ Cup Final in 2008. The team started with a 17-0 home victory against Carrickfergus Grammar. This was followed by a very tense 10-6 victory away to Coleraine AI. Having already caused one upset in the Cup, they defeated RS Armagh 13-7 at “The Beach”. Regent reached the final following a 17-8 victory against Ballyclare High at Ravenhill, with tries from Neil Armstrong, Jeff Anderson and Paul Henderson and a conversion from Armstrong proving vital. Regent were defeated 36-0 in the final by Methodist College Belfast at Ravenhill on St Patrick’s Day 2008. Royal School Dungannon RSD has competed in the schools cup since its inauguration, winning once in 1907. Two semi finals in the past 15 years plus two winning Subsidiary Shield victories. The stunning new Campus takes its inspiration in style from the Old Grey Mother and the School’s past but in its facilities it is a school for the 21st century. Classrooms are large and well resourced. There are Specialist teaching facilities in ICT, Technology and Science and sporting facilities such as a modern sports hall and a floodlit astro-turf pitch to compliment rugby and hockey pitches and tennis courts. Cambridge House Our aim at Cambridge House is to develop our students’ all-round skills and game-understanding within an enjoyable environment, with an emphasis on physical literacy appropriate to their stage of development. Playing as part of a rugby team within school not only helps pupils have a balanced healthy lifestyle but also benefits the pupils’ development of desirable transferable skills found in almost every work place. Although all players may not reach professional level, the coaching staff help facilitate a clear progression that allows each pupil to develop individually in terms of mental, physical and technical abilities. Grosvenor Grammar School situated in Belfast Grosvenor have teams from U12 right up to I XV, the Graham Cup provides a tournament at the start of the schools rugby season and is in honour of a long standing supportor of rugby, Grosvenor is a long standing participant in the competition. Carrickfergus Grammar School The school first participated in the Schools’ Cup in the late 1960s under the supervision of Mr Rab Wilkinson. They made further appearances in the 1970s under the guidance of Mr Wilfie McWha and Mr Mervyn Shaw. After a gap of approximately 10 years, the school re-entered the Cup in 1995 with Mr Chris Campbell at the helm and have entered every year since. The school has produced a number of Ulster and Irish Schools’ rugby players, the latest of which being Michael Entwistle (2005-06, 2006-07), Alan Haire (2005-06), Ross Connor (2006-07) and Andrew McIlroy in 2008-09. Despite limited success in the main competition, we have had made several finals in Subsidiary competitions. In 1975 and 1979, we lost in the Subsidiary Shield final to Dalriada and Ballymena and in 2005 we were defeated by Rainey Endowed in the final of the Schools Bowl. In 2009 the 1st XV won the Ulster School’s Trophy defeating Down High School 34-26 in a pulsating final played at Shaws Bridge. Lurgan College the school has like so many a page dedicated to rugby in which they keep up to date reports and information on activities, results and the visit of inspirational guests, Lurgan College is a long standing competitor in the competition. Foyle College Rugby has been played at Foyle College since the 1860’s. During this time the school has produced many fine players, some of whom have gone to play at higher levels, such as the Ross brothers in the 1920’s. Two British and Irish Lions are products of Foyle College, Noel Henderson who made his Ireland debut at 20 years of age and Ken Goodall, who first played international rugby when only 19. Foyle College has won the Schools’ Cup once in its history, back in the 1914-15 season. Larne Grammar School Rugby is the main winter sport played by boys in the school. The school has a range of teams that play on Saturday mornings from September through to March. The teams are as follows; 1st and 2nd XV – made up of boys in years 12, 13 and 14, Medallion XV – year 11, Under 14 – year 10, Under 13 – year 9, Under 12 – year 8.
May everyone enjoy the experience, also a big thank you to Danske Bank for the great financial assistance which is such an endorsement of everyone involved. May everyone enjoy the experience and their individual participation. May we as a community put player welfare at the top of the list as we support and help the athletes. Thats all!
C u somewhere on Saturday!
PS at some point there will be an AOOOOOO AO AO AO!
PPS we will also be covering any info and news we can get our hands on medallion, 2s, 3s, 4s, 5s, etc etc Shields, Bowls, Cups! Bring it on!
