To follow INTOUCH RUGBY on Facebook CLICK HERE to Follow InTouch Schools & Clubs Rugby in Ulster & Lifestyle Specials page on Facebook CLICK HERE for TWITTER CLICK HERE
Danske Bank Ulster Schools’ Round Up Saturday 26th January 2019
The draws for the 1/4 Finals of the Danske Bank Ulster Schools’ 2ndxv Cup and Plate competitions were made on Tuesday 22nd January. The results of the draws are as follows 🙂
Danske Bank Ulster Schools’ 2ndxv Cup 1/4 Finals
Royal School, Armagh v Sullivan Upper School
Campbell College, Belfast v Wallace High School
Ballymena Academy v Royal Belfast Academical Institution
Ballyclare High School v Methodist College, Belfast
Danske Bank Ulster Schools’ 2ndxv Plate 1/4 Finals
Grosvenor Grammar School v Foyle and Londonderry College
Portadown College v Belfast High School
Coleraine Grammar School v Cambridge House Grammar School
Regent House School v Friends’ School, Lisburn
These Danske Bank Ulster Schools’ 2ndxv Cup and Plate 1/4 Final games are scheduled to be played on/before Saturday 2nd February 2019.
On Wednesday 23rd January Royal School, Armagh were to have played Carndonagh Community School in the 2nd Round of the Danske Bank Ulster Schools’ 3rdxv Cup and on the same afternoon Belfast Royal Academy 4thxv were to have played Methodist College, Belfast 3rdxv. Unfortunately both these game fell victims to the prevailing weather conditions and were postponed. The Belfast Royal Academy 4thxv game against Methodist College, Belfast 3rdxv will take place on Wednesday 30th January.
The Royal School, Armagh 3rdxv game against Carndonagh Community School was rescheduled for Friday 25th January and the Royal School, Armagh team won the game by 42-5.
There were eight Danske Bank Ulster Schools’ Cup 3rd Round games played on Saturday 26th January as well as four Danske Bank Ulster Schools’ Trophy 1/4 Final games.
In the Danske Bank Ulster Schools’ Cup 3rd Round Belfast Royal Academy hosted Belfast High School in a game where the weather conditions had a major impact on the game. The Belfast Royal Academy team not only had to overcome the environmental conditions but also a very committed Belfast High School team before they secured a hard earned 17-3 win. The Belfast Royal Academy team took a 12-3 lead into the half time break with tries from Rory Linden and Jack McKee, one of which was converted by Daniel Logan. The Belfast High School team forced the Belfast Royal Academy team into conceding a penalty and Aaron Douglas made no mistake with the resultant kick to record the three points for his team.
The conditions did not improve in the second half and both teams experienced difficulties in controlling the ball. The Belfast High School team had a number of potential scoring opportunities but good Belfast Royal Academy defence, coupled with some Belfast High School handling errors, ensured the Belfast Royal Academy line remained intact. The only score of the second half came through an unconverted try from Rob Sturgess which was sufficient to secure the 17-3 victory for the Belfast Royal Academy team.
In what has been described as a typical Danske Bank Ulster Schools’ Cup game, played in very wet conditions, Coleraine Grammar School lost by 8-7 when they hosted the Dalriada School team. There was a massive crowd in attendance at the game to watch two well-matched teams. The home team dominated possession for large parts of the first half. However, despite making a number of clear line breaks the Coleraine Grammar School attack found difficulty in outwitting the scramble defence applied by the Dalriada School team. That was until the start of the second quarter of the game when Paddy White finished off a flowing Coleraine Grammar School attack with a fine try. Tyler McNeill was successful with the touchline conversion to see the Coleraine Grammar School team into a 7-0 lead. Just before the interval the Coleraine Grammar School team was penalised at a breakdown. The Dalriada School team put the ball into the corner and, from the ensuing lineout, the ball was won. The resultant driven maul was finished off with an unconverted try, touched down by Will Scott, to see the scoreboard read Coleraine Grammar School 7 Dalriada School 5 at the break.
The Coleraine Grammar School team continued to dominate proceedings in the second half with the boots of Tyler McNeill and Pierce Crowe pinning the Dalriada team back into their 22m area. Dalriada stayed in the game with some great defence as well as clever play at the breakdown which led to a number of crucial turnovers. The Dalriada team took great confidence from this and took play on a number of occasions into the Coleraine Grammar School “Red Zone”. On their last appearance they forced the Coleraine team into conceding a penalty. Up stepped James McCormick to coolly slot his kick and secure the hard-earned 8-7 victory for the Dalriada School team at the no-side whistle.
Friends’ School, Lisburn played Ballyclare High School in the 3rd Round of the Danske Bank Ulster Schools’ Cup. Despite taking an early 6-0 lead the Friends’ School team eventually lost the game by 25-6. A good start from the Friends’ School team forced the Ballyclare High School team into conceding two early penalties. Reece Malone successfully converted both of the kicks to see the Friends’ School team into a 6-0 lead. The Ballyclare High School team responded with a penalty from Mark Jackson to reduce the deficit to 6-3. A well worked try from Adam Campbell, converted by Mark Jackson, then saw the Ballyclare High School team take a 10-6 lead. Just before the break a second Adam Campbell try, which was not converted, saw the Ballyclare High School team take a 15-6 lead into the interval.
Early in the second half an unconverted try from Ethan Crawford increased the Ballyclare High School lead to 20-6. The Friends’ School, Lisburn team responded positively but, despite the best efforts of players such as Reece Malone, Max Gillespie, Ryan McGucken and Stuart Patterson, they were unable to score any extra points. With little time remaining Matthew McCullough sealed the deserved 25-6 victory for the Ballyclare High School team when he touched down for an unconverted try.
Lurgan College took a 7-0 lead before going down by 34-7 when they played Cambridge House Grammar School in the 3rd Round of the Danske Bank Ulster Schools’ Cup. The Lurgan College points came from a penalty try awarded against the Cambridge House Grammar School team early in the game. Rory McCandless then converted a penalty opportunity for the Cambridge House team to reduce the deficit to 7-3. Kane McIlroy then scored a try for the Cambridge House team, which was converted by Rory McCandless, to take a 10-7 lead. This became 17-7 just prior to the interval when Ethan Crawford took advantage of great help from his pack before he touched down for a try. Rory McCandless was successful with the conversion to see the Cambridge House team into a 17-7 lead.
Three second half tries from the Cambridge House team through Josh Mark, Stuart Donald and a length of the pitch effort from Kane McIlroy, with one conversion from Rory McCandless, secured an impressive 34-7 win for the Cambridge House Grammar School team.
Omagh Academy played Down High School at Omagh Academicals RFC in a game the Down High School team won by 15-3. The game was played in difficult weather conditions in front of an enthusiastic band of supporters. The Down High School team took a 5-0 lead when a Greg Hutley chip though was picked up by Conor Moag. Conor off loaded to Conor Gibson who found Greg Hutley with a clever pass. Greg moved the ball quickly to Luka Walsh who finished things off with an unconverted try. Omagh Academy responded with a Rory Ritchie penalty to reduce the arrears to 5-3. The Omagh Academy team was now back in the game and determined to play with the ball in hand. On one such venture from their half an Omagh pass was intercepted by Luka Walsh who gratefully ran in to touch down for a try. Greg Hutley added the conversion to see the Down High School team into a 12-3 lead at the interval.
The second half of this game was an evenly contested affair with defences of both teams cancelling out any worthwhile attacks. Midway through the second half a Greg Hutley drop goal sailed between the uprights and over the Omagh Academy bar to secure the 15-3 victory for the Down High School team.
Both teams would like to thank Omagh Academicals RFC for the provision of facilities and hosting the game.
Rainey Endowed School hosted Portadown College in their Danske Bank Ulster Schools’ Cup 3rd Round game from which the Rainey Endowed School team emerged as 39-0 winners. Playing into a strong breeze in the opening stages of the game the Rainey team started strongly and dominated both territory and possession. After a series of attacks Bryn Davies broke through the Portadown College attack. Bryn touched down for a try, which Harry Evans converted, to give the Rainey Endowed School team a 7-0 lead. The Rainey team continued to attack and took a 12-0 lead when Adam McCrum touched down for an unconverted try. The Portadown College defence was struggling with the pace of the Rainey Endowed School attacks. David Dripps outpaced the Portadown College defence before touching down for a try. Harry Evans added the extras to see the Rainey team into a 19-0 lead at the break.
Just after the restart a Harry Evans penalty saw the Rainey Endowed team into a 22-0 lead. With the Portadown College defence struggling with the variety of Rainey attacks two unconverted tries from Harry Evans and Bryan Hall increased the Rainey Endowed lead to 32-0. The Rainey Endowed School team kept the best to the end and Bryn Davies finished of a team try with a flourish. Harry Evans added the extras to this try to secure the well-deserved 39-0 victory for the Rainey Endowed School team.
Regent House School played Bangor Grammar School in a game the Bangor Grammar School team won by 27-5 following a very committed input from both sets of players in the course of the game. Following a first half when both teams had experienced difficulties in controlling the ball and both defences were on top the scoreboard was reading 0-0 at the interval.
Both teams started the second half displaying great valour but it was the Bangor Grammar School team that started to take control of both territory and possession in the course of the second half. Riley Westwood touched down for a try, which was converted by Rhys Larmour, to see the Bangor team into a 7-0 lead. This became 12-0 a few minutes later when Angus Christie touched down for an unconverted try. Regent House then reduced the arrears to 12-5 when their captain, Kier Edgar, stormed over the Bangor Grammar School line for an unconverted try. A variety of plays in the final ten minutes of the game saw the Bangor Grammar School team score team score fifteen points. Rhys Larmour kicked a penalty, Aaron Sexton scored an unconverted try and Angus Christie ran in for his second try of the day, which was converted by Rhys Larmour, to secure the 27-5 win for the Bangor Grammar School team.
Royal School, Dungannon played a very determined Larne Grammar School team in the 3rd Round of the Danske Bank Ulster Schools’ Cup. The Royal School, Dungannon team had to work hard before emerging as 38-0 winners. Jack Girvan score two tries for the Royal School, Dungannon team with Adam Junk, Jake Bell, Logan MacIlravie and Peter Nicholl touching down for one try each. Jack Girvan was successful with four of his conversion kicks.
The Larne Grammar School contributed greatly to the game with some impressive performances from players such as Aaron Gallagher, Jordan McIlhinney, Jakob Holst and Caelan Campbell.
In the 1/4 Finals of the Danske Bank Ulster Schools’ Trophy Dromore High School hosted Carrickfergus Grammar School and won the game by 28-3. Xander Lowham, Richard Dickson and Josh Patterson with two, were the Dromore High School try scorers. Rhys Dale added one conversion as well as a penalty.
Daniel Curley kicked the penalty for the Carrickfergus Grammar School team for whom Liam Kaprigiannis-Green, Adam Anthony, Scott Gardner and Ewan Milburn all impressed with their performances.
Foyle and Londonderry College defeated Banbridge Academy by 41-10. The Foyle College points came through two tries from Keelin Coyle with Andy Miller, Lewis Callen, Jack Kelly and James Goodman scoring one try apiece. Keelin Coyle added four conversions as well as one penalty.
Matthew Robinson scored two unconverted tries for the Banbridge Academy team for whom Adam Hanna and Jake Beattie impressed also with their performances.
Limavady Grammar School had to thank James Howe who converted two penalty kick opportunities to secure their 6-0 win against Grosvenor Grammar School.
The Strabane Academy v Wellington College, Belfast Danske Bank Ulster Schools’ Trophy game fell victim to the horrendous weather conditions which prevailed on the morning of Saturday 26th January. This game has been re-scheduled to be played on/before Wednesday 30th January.
Campbell College, Belfast 4thxv hosted Ballymena Academy 3rdxv in the 2nd Round of the Danske Bank Ulster Schools’ 3rdxv Cup. The Ballymena Academy 3rdxv team emerged from the game as 26-10 winners.
In a 1stxv friendly game Sullivan Upper School hosted Enniskillen Royal Grammar School and won the game by 22-11. Will Cave, Jamie Thallon and Shay Storey scored the Sullivan Upper tries with Conor McKee adding two conversions as well as a penalty.
The Enniskillen Royal Grammar School points came through a penalty and drop goal from Eddie Keys as well as a Callum Smyton try.
Methodist College, Belfast travelled to play Christian Brother’s College, Cork at Cill Dara RFC in Co Kildare. The Methodist College, Belfast team continued with their recent run of good form and won the game by 19-13. Steven Millar, Chris Larmour and Louis Millar each scored one try for the Methodist College, Belfast team with Ethan McIlroy adding two conversions.
The Christian Brother’s College, Cork team scored two unconverted tries as well as a penalty in the course of the game.
Both teams would like to thank Cill Dara RFC for the provision of facilities and hosting the game.
Campbell College, Belfast and Glenstall Abbey from Limerick met in a friendly game at St Michael’s College in Dublin. The Campbell College team won the game by 15-11. Danny Williamson scored two tries for the Campbell College team with Conor Rankin adding one conversion as well as a penalty.
Both teams would like to thank St Michael’s College, Dublin for the provision of facilities and hosting the game.
