Ulster Rugby vs Treviso

RBAI AND METHODY SET FOR SCHOOLS’ CUP SHOWDOWN

The Royal Belfast Academical Institution and Methodist College Belfast will meet in the 2017 Danske Bank Ulster Schools’ Cup Final, following semi-final wins over Ballymena Academy and Belfast Royal Academy respectively earlier this week. ROYAL BELFAST ACADEMICAL INSTITUTION 41-8 BALLYMENA ACADEMY

The Royal Belfast Academical Institution continued their hunt for three Danske Bank Ulster Schools’ Cup titles in a row, with an emphatic 41-8 victory over Ballymena Academy at Kingspan Stadium on Monday afternoon. Ballymena Academy started the game in bright fashion and took the game to their Belfast opponents, forcing them back inside their 22 with some powerful drives. However, it was RBAI who opened the scoring on 9 minutes when an Academy attack broke down and winger Zak Davidson picked up possession before sprinting in from 60 metres. Ballymena responded brightly, again forcing their way deep into opposition territory but the RBAI defence held firm, thwarting several drives for the line before eventually forcing Ballymena into touch. RBAI got their second try on 20 minutes after some good work brought them up to the Ballymena 22. The Ballymena defence temporarily stood up with some huge tackles, but a well worked scrum move released RBAI winger Niall Armstrong who darted over. James Hume knocked over the conversion to make it 12-0. Shortly before the interval Ballymena scuppered a great scoring opportunity, when a quick lineout opened up the RBAI defence. With the defence scrambling, the ball was spread from right to left but was knocked forward on the final pass with the try line beckoning. RBAI got off to a flying start in the second half with a try from their very first attack; Armstrong squeezing over in the left corner for his second try just ninety seconds after the restart. Ballymena’s endeavour was eventually rewarded on 40 minutes when out-half Bruce Houston slotted over a penalty from 25 metres. On 44 minutes, RBAI touched down again when flanker David McCann broke through before releasing number 8 Yasser Omar to finish it off. Five minutes later RBAI captain Michael Lowry got in on the act with a superb individual effort. The out-half jinked his way past a couple of would-be defenders in midfield before running in from half-way. Full back Joseph Finnegan had now assumed place-kicking

the left following good initial breaks by Stewart Moore and Alexander Clarke. Armstrong completed his hat-trick on 61 minutes when some excellent fast hands released the winger who had the easy task of dotting down under the posts. Finnegan nudged the simplest of conversions to extend the lead to 36-8. While the result was beyond doubt, RBAI remained relentless in attack and several phases of pressure opened space for prop Callum Reid to bustle over form close range with just seconds remaining to seal the win for the reigning champions.

RBAI TEAM & SCORERS 15-9 Joseph Finnegan, Zak Davidson, James Hume, David Lyttle, Niall Armstrong, Michael Lowry (Capt), Rhys O’Donnell; 1-8 Callum Reid, Neil Saulters, Matthew Nelson, Dermot Wallace, Pierce McLernon, David McCann, Patrick Finnegan. REPLACEMENTS 16-23 Connor McCormick, Ethan Sloan, Bailey Gribben, Stuart Cameron, Angus Adair, Ethan Field, Robin McIlveen, Simon McMaster. TRIES Zak Davidson, Niall Armstrong (3), Yasser Omar, Michael Lowry, Callum Reid CONS James Hume BALLYMENA ACADEMY TEAM & SCORERS 15-9 Mark Thompson, Alan Small, Stewart Moore, Angus Kernohan, Conor Gallagher, Bruce Houston, Michael Stronge; 1-8 Joel Gocher, Alexander Clarke (Capt), Scott Agnew, Joshua McAuley, Christopher McLeister, Oisin Jordan, James McLean, Azur Allison. REPLACEMENTS 16-23 David Stevenson, Tim Savoury, Matthew Boyd, Jonathon Browne, Tiarnan Martin, Louis McGuckian, Jordan Foster, Connor Agnew. TRIES Azur Allison PENS Bruce Houston

DANSKE BANK SCHOOLS' CUP SEMI-FINAL duties and he added the extras to make it 27-3. Ballymena Academy got their solitary try on 52 minutes when number 8 Azur Allison broke in from

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