Ulster Schools' Cup Final 2016

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 Belfast Academical Institution and Campbell College. WELCOME FROM STEPHEN BLACK

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 throughout the season, building upon the potential shown by their Medallion Shield teams of recent years. Following the success of Campbell College in 2013, this competition has been dominated by RBAI with three successive Medallion Shield triumphs, highlighting clearly the current rugby- playing strength of both schools whilst paying tribute to the influence of their coaches at all levels. Add in the success of RBAI in last year’s Schools’ Cup Final and it is no shock that these teams have reached today’s showpiece occasion. The sides have had contrasting routes to the final with the East Belfast school facing ‘seeded’ opposition on only one occasion, albeit a closely contested game with their great rivals, Methodist College, which resulted in a one point victory for the home side at Fox’s Field. Campbell College’s other victories were at Friends’ School in round 3 and a semi-final win over Dalriada School at Kingspan Stadium. On the other hand, RBAI faced ‘seeded’ opposition in each game, achieving comprehensive victories over Coleraine Grammar School and Sullivan Upper School at Osborne Park before overcoming the challenge of a formidable Ballymena Academy side in an excellent game at this venue. Both semi-finals proved to be excellent advertisements for our schools’ game, not only in terms of the quality of rugby on show but also in the atmosphere provided by the supporters from all the schools. I look forward to similar excellence both on and off the field today. The Schools’ Committee, and all our schools, are indebted to Danske Bank for their continued support and generosity without which we squads and player development programmes. I am delighted to welcome their Chief Executive, Kevin Kingston, and other Danske Bank representatives to what represents their 11th Schools’ Cup Final as our sponsors and to thank them for all they do on our behalf.

Over the 140 year history of the competition, these two famous Belfast schools have met each other in 12 finals, with Campbell College having six victories, RBAI having four victories and the games in 1954 and 1960 ending in draws. School historians will have noted that today is, in fact, the 100th anniversary of the first meeting of the schools in a Schools’ Cup Final, an occasion on which RBAI proved victorious. However, recent Schools’ Cup Final encounters favour the East Belfast school as one needs to go back to 1951 to record an RBAI success in a Schools’ Cup Final between these two rivals. The most recent Schools’ Cup Final meeting took place only five years ago with the Campbell College side recording an 18-11 victory over their RBAI rivals. It is worth noting that the winning team captained by John Creighton, who has gone on to represent Ulster ‘A’, included current Ulster player Rory Scholes in addition to Chris Farrell, who is now playing his rugby in the French Top 14 for Grenoble. It would seem safe to assume that today’s teams will include individuals who will end up playing at a similar level. For some of the players, initial steps have already been taken on that pathway as each side is sprinkled with Ulster representative players from U19, U18 and U17 age groups, many of whom will have played together in our interprovincial teams. Four of those players, James Hume, Rhys O’Donnell and Callum Reid (RBAI) and Tom O’Toole (Campbell College) will be meeting up again next week as part of the two Ireland U18 squads who will compete in tournaments over Easter, though I am certain that whatever camaraderie exists will be set aside for 70 minutes today. Indeed, the contest between Callum and Tom at scrum time may be one to keep an eye on. I offer our congratulations, and best wishes, to those players and to our other Ulster Schools’ representatives chosen this week to represent Ireland at U18 and U19 levels – Alexander Clarke, Bruce Houston, Jonathon McKeown and Marcus Rea (all Ballymena Academy), Matthew Dalton (BRA) and Jonny Stewart (Wallace High School).

SCHOOLS’ COMMITTEE CHAIRMAN’S WELCOME would struggle to meet all the demands of our competitions, never mind our representative

4