The Northern Bank Ulster Schools’ Trophy final will take place at Dungannon RFC on Thursday 3rd March with a 3-00pm kick off. The game features near neighbours and close rivals Portora Royal School and Omagh Academy.
The Portora RS team has experienced difficulties, especially in the early part of the season, in terms of getting positive results. They went out of the Northern Bank Ulster Schools’ Cup following defeat by Larne Grammar School in the 2nd Round. They have lost games they would normally expect to win but participation in the Schools’ Trophy competition has, in many respects, rescued their season for them. The Portora RS team is a developing team that has had to contend with a large number of injuries throughout the season. They have not played a full game since qualifying for the Schools’ Trophy final but this has given a number of injury worries time to heal.
The Enniskillen team should be at full strength for the Trophy final and they are all looking forward to the encounter. The Omagh team will be aware of the strengths of the Portora team. Rory Gibson is a talented scrum half who likes to dictate the pattern of the game. He gets great support from his half back colleague, Robert Connor, who has the ability to pin opposition teams back with his effective kicking game. James Ferguson and Jonny Magwood form an effective centre partnership with James providing the brawn and Jonny the pace. Jonny is an Ulster Schools’ 100 metres sprinting champion and the Omagh team will need to deny him the space to attack. Up front, the Portora team rely heavily on the power of their Captain, Adam Farrell, in the front row. He is ably assisted by the second row pairing of Rodney Blair and Graham Rutherford who have the ability to provide quality lineout possession as well as the ability to carry ball. The Portora back row trio of Joel Johnston, Matthew Mulligan and Neil Allen will work hard at break down and their contest with the Omagh trio of Adam Longwell, Harry Gibson and Gary Sherrard could be the key to this game. The Omagh team has a hard working 2nd row pairing as well and Jonny Sproule and Benji Knox will not let their team down. Ashley McIlwaine, Dean Barr, Ryan Mitchell and Lee Warnock will make good use of any possession supplied by the Omagh pack. This will be a tightly contested final with the bragging rights of Ulster Schools’ rugby in the west of the Province at stake.
Wallace High School will play Bangor Grammar School in the Northern Bank Ulster Schools’ Subsidiary Shield semi-final on Saturday 5th March. The Wallace team was well tested by the Down High School team in their quarter-final encounter but will see themselves as favourites to progress to the final, having comfortably defeated Bangor Grammar School in December. The Wallace team has a very strong pack with their back row trio of Simon Gilmore, Cal McIlwaine and Daniel Henry getting through a lot of work. Chris Taylor brings Irish Schools’ experience to the team and he gets great support from Stewart Evans and Mark Uprichard. Peter Weir is a lively scrum half who loves to produce the unexpected while David Scott and Nathan Reid form a formidable midfield partnership. Jordan Heatley has had an impressive Schools’ Cup campaign and the Bangor Grammar School defence will need to watch him closely. The Bangor team has flattered to deceive at times this season. They have a number of talented players available for selection and they have the ability to cause problems for the Wallace team. Luke Dornan, Darren Kelly, Gareth Irvine and Johnny Gordon are the mainstays of an abrasive pack while Craig Harper, Jacob Onyekwelu and Stuart McCloskey have the ability to take advantage of any defensive lapses. Philip Harper, Matthew Hamilton and Daniel Kennedy are a very pacey back three who will thrive on any loose kicks that come their way. Both teams like to attack at every opportunity; it should be an interesting encounter!
The second semi-final of the Northern Bank Ulster Schools’ Subsidiary Shield, featuring Dalriada School and Ballymena Academy will also take place on Saturday 5th March. Both these teams were disappointed at going out of the Schools’ Cup competition but have seen the Subsidiary Shield competition as a competition worth winning. Both teams like to attack with the ball in hand and are similar in the styles of play. The Dalriada team has a number of talented backs in their ranks. Rhys McAuley and Ben Henderson, the Dalriada half backs, will be expected to gain position and territory for their team mates. If they can do so, players such as Jonny McLaughlin, Jonny Laughlin, Jonny McMullan and Ewan Strang will all ask questions of the Ballymena Academy defence. If things are a little tighter, the Dalriada team will look to Roger Bonnar, David Campbell and Andrew Skelton to take the game to the Ballymena Academy team. The Ballymena team was disappointed to lose their 4th Round encounter against RSA Armagh. However, this did not show against Belfast High School in their Subsidiary Shield quarter-final clash when Caleb Morrison, Nicholas Sterling, Jonny McClelland and Jack Fleming all impressed with their attacking skills. Up front, John Andrew, Peter Wallace, Timothy Patton and Sam McNabney ensured their back division had a good supply of quality possession throughout the game. More of the same will be required if the Ballymena team is to be certain of making it through to the final of the Northern Bank Ulster Schools’ Subsidiary Shield.
The second of the Northern Bank Ulster Schools’ Cup semi-finals will take place at Ravenhill on Monday 7th March when Ballyclare High School meet Campbell College in an eagerly anticipated clash. The Campbell College team has come through three tough quarter-final encounters against Methodist College and, as a result, their squad has developed a great will to win. On paper, the Campbell College team will probably see themselves as favourites to win. Despite losing earlier in the season to the Ballyclare High School team, the Campbell College team has improved greatly. They can call upon the services of a large number of representative players, especially in their back division. John Creighton, Chris Farrell and Rory Scholes bring Irish Schools’ experience to the clash while Chris Best and Rob Haldane, amongst others, have Ulster Schools’ honours behind them. Moss Rodgers loves to get the ball in his hands and relies on the experience of his Campbell College back line colleagues to create the opportunities for him. In the pack, Mark Best, Charles Gallagher, John Francois Bester and Jack Cooke have featured on representative teams for Ulster as well. The Campbell College coaches will hope that these players can bring their representative experience to the game. The Ballyclare has lost only one domestic fixture in the course of the season so far. They had a “great escape” from Downpatrick in the 4th Round of the Northern Bank Ulster Schools’ Cup when they scored a try with only seconds remaining to progress in the competition. They had built up a healthy half time lead against Sullivan Upper in the quarter-final only to see it almost slip away with only minutes remaining. The Co-Antrim team must not allow a similar scenario to develop in their semi-final encounter against Campbell College. Jonny Holmes, the Ballyclare High School outhalf, has been one of the main reasons for their successful season with his stand out performances. Jonny Darling has been a revelation at No 8 while Peter McMechan has impressed alongside him in the Ballyclare back row. Jonny Craig is an excellent scrummager who has scored a number of crucial tries this season while Jonny Craig has proved to be a handful for most defences with his strong midfield running lines. He has created space for players such as Peter Kennedy on the Ballyclare High School wing. The Campbell College defence will need to be well organised. If the Ballyclare High School team can eliminate the basic errors which have come to the surface during their two Schools’ Cup games so far, they will feel they have the opportunity to create a major upset. This game is scheduled to kick off at 2-30pm.
The second of this season’s Ulster Schools’ Senior Rugby finals will take place on Wednesday 9th March when Rainey Endowed School and Friends’ School meet in the final of the Northern Bank Ulster Schools’ Bowl competition at Dungannon Rugby Club. The Rainey Endowed team will see themselves as clear favourites to win the Ulster Schools’ Bowl competition as they have been one of the most improved schools’ in Ulster this season. It has been the Rainey pack that has laid the foundations for their success this season. James Kelso has put in a number of “man of the match” performances in the Rainey Endowed front row and he has formed a good relationship with his hooker, Owen Devlin, and fellow prop Chris Lynch who has scored a couple of important tries this season. Mark McErlean has developed into a very fine 2nd Row forward who has the ability to steal opposition ball as well as win his own while Thomas Booth, Michael Dawson and No 8 Luke Steele form a very effective back row trio that has scored a good number of tries from driven mauls, following lineouts, this season. The Rainey backs have scored a lot of tries this season with their scrum half, Martin Connolly an excellent place kicker. Fintan Quinn and Matthew Stewart are fast wingers with Damian McMurray and Philip Caulfield displaying creativity in their midfield roles. Jamie Burrows is an experienced full back who loves to attack from anywhere on the pitch. The Friends’ team will hope that a number of injury worries will clear up in time for the game and that four players will get back from University interviews so that they can participate with a full squad for the game. Simon Harris, David Seeds, Joe Murphy and their Friends’ School team mates will hope to finish their season on a high note but thus far, the odds appear to be stacked against them! This game is scheduled to kick off at 2-30pm.
