Ulster School's Cup Final 2018

On behalf of the Schools’ Committee, it is a great pleasure to welcome everyone to Kingspan Stadium this afternoon for what promises to be an intriguing Danske Bank Schools’ Cup Final, contested by the Royal School Armagh and Campbell College. WELCOME FROM STEPHEN BLACK

Over the 142 year history of the competition, these two famous schools have appeared in many finals with the Royal School Armagh recording nine wins and Campbell College being victorious in twenty-three finals, in addition to sharing the trophy on four occasions. Despite such a rich history within the competition, the schools have, perhaps surprisingly, met each other only once in a final. On that occasion, in 2004, Royal School Armagh emerged victorious by a 14 -5 score-line. Today represents the Armagh school’s first Schools’ Cup Final since that day in contrast to their opponents who reached the final in 2006, 2011 and 2016, recording victory in 2011 over RBAI. It is worth noting that the victorious Campbell College team of 2011, captained by John Creighton who has gone on to represent Ulster “A”, included Rory Scholes, now with Connacht, and Chris Farrell, who has made a big impression this season with Munster and Ireland. From the Royal School Armagh’s perspective, their 2004 captain, John McCall, had already received international age grade representation, before his untimely passing, while the squad also included Willie Faloon, now Director of Rugby at RSA, having previously represented Ulster and Connacht. It would seem safe to assume that today’s teams will include individuals who will,

who captained the Danske Bank Ulster U18 Schools squad which last September won the Interprovincial Championship for the first time in twelve years. The squad also included his school team-mates, Harry Owens, Ben Power, Conor Rankin and Jack Stinson together with Ryan O’Neill of the Royal School Armagh. Turning to today, we look forward to the prospect of two well respected teams marking the occasion with an enjoyable and high quality game. Both schools have displayed impressive form in recent weeks and the Royal School Armagh enter the game with real confidence, having defeated their opponents earlier this season at Fox’s Field and with some members of the squad having been part of the team which won the Danske Bank Medallion Shield Final at Kingspan Stadium in 2017. However, they will have been reminded of the considerable challenge offered by their rivals in this year’s Danske Bank Medallion Shield, where they relinquished their trophy following defeat at the East Belfast venue in Round 4 of the competition. Since then, their Medallion XV has gone on to lift the Danske Bank Medallion Plate with victory over Sullivan Upper School while the Campbell College team reached the Danske Bank Medallion Shield Final before losing narrowly to Ballymena Academy. The success of the schools in both competitions highlights their current rugby-playing strength whilst paying tribute to the influence of their coaches at all levels. The sides have had similar routes to the final with both schools facing “seeded” opposition at both Quarter-Final and Semi-Final stages, having had comfortable victories in Round 4 against “unseeded” opposition. Having defeated Dalriada School, Campbell College’s victories were a narrow victory in their Quarter-Final at home to Ballymena Academy before overcoming

SCHOOLS’ COMMITTEE CHAIRMAN one day, be playing at a similar level. Indeed, Matthew Agnew, Matthew Dalton, James Hume, Angus Kernohan and Tom O’Toole who represented Bangor Grammar School, BRA, RBAI, Ballymena Academy and Campbell

College in the Danske Bank Schools’ Cup last season were members of the Ireland U20 team which defeated Scotland U20 two weeks ago. For some of today’s players, initial steps have already been taken on a similar pathway through representation at various age groups including John McKee, from Campbell College,

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