The Northern Bank Ulster Schools’ Cup semi-final featuring Royal Belfast Academical Institution and Coleraine Academical Institution will take place on Monday 28th February at Ravenhill. The Coleraine team won away from home in Round 3 against RS Dungannon, won with the last play of the game at home to Grosvenor Grammar School in Round 4 and won their quarter-final encounter at home to last season’s beaten finalists Belfast Royal Academy. The team has built up a good deal of experience in the course of their Schools’ Cup campaign this season and they will travel to Belfast in a very confident mood. The main architect of their Cup campaign has been their talented Northern Bank Ulster Schools’ U19 scrum half, Paddy Farrell. Paddy has impressed with his performances in the Schools’ Cup games and in particular from broken play. He scored a tremendous try against Belfast Royal Academy, making the most of a loose defensive kick from the BRA defence. He is assisted by his outhalf, Michael Poskitt, who, despite picking up a recent injury, is hopeful of playing. Stephen Best is an important asset to the Coleraine pack and brings representative experience to the team. Whether he will play in the front row or second row remains to be seen. Alan Clarke and Stuart McCaffrey have had strong games during the Coleraine AI cup run and the Belfast Inst team will need to monitor them closely. The Royal Belfast Academical Institution team has come through a tough Schools’ Cup campaign. They had to work hard to defeat a deviant Dalriada team in Round 4 and then went on to survive two tough encounters with Royal School, Armagh in their quarter-final games. Paddy Bell, Michael Mairs, Zach Welshman and Michael Kilpatrick bring a tough edge to the forward exchanges in any game. The Belfast Inst backs make effective use of the quality possession provided by the pack. Kevin McLean, Nathan Dougan, Jonny McClure and Nathan Boyd will provide a good test for the much vaunted defensive qualities of the Coleraine AI team while Matthew McGuigan is a confident kicker who will capitalise on any opportunities. The Coleraine AI team will need to be disciplined anywhere in their own half. If the Coleraine AI team can match the physicality of the Belfast Inst team and provide Paddy Farrell with broken play opportunities, there could be a surprise result on the cards. The game is scheduled to kick off at 2-30pm.
