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forward and into the hands of fly half Bokkie Carstens.
As he gathered and accelerated, he left the Leinster
defence scrambling and made it all the way under the
posts, leaving McCluggage with a simple conversion
to make the score 12-5. Leinster pressed again in the
closing stages of the first half but the Ulster defence
held firm.
Ulster got off to the perfect start in the second half,
with Brian Hughes soaring high to gather the ball from
Cartens restart. Ulster held onto the ball, going through
the phases before the ball made its way to Phil Cartmill
who spotted the a Leinster prop in front of him and
went for the outside break. He went clean through
and had the speed to go all the way to score in the
corner. McCluggage converted to make the score 19-5.
Leinster was next to score, keeping in touch at 10-19.
McCluggage then increased Ulster’s lead with a penalty
before Leinster rallied again, scoring a try on sixty
minutes to make it a one score game at 22-15. Coach
Richard Boyd then looked to his bench to freshen things
up and this had the desired effect. Mitchell McComb
gathered a loose Leinster kick, and the back three of
Ulster were in perfect harmony as he moved the ball
early to Phil Cartmill and on to Neil Brown who weaved
his way past a number of defenders in a brilliant solo
run. The conversion was missed but Ulster was firmly
in control at 27-15 with fifteen minutes to go. Ulster
then put the game and the championship to bed in the
closing stages as a misdirected pass from Leinster just
inside the Ulster half broke to Ulster centre Mikey Poskitt
who had the awareness and pace, to score close to the
Leinster posts. He converted his own try to make the
final score 34-15, giving Ulster their third win and a clean
sweep to claim the 2017 Inter Provincial title.
The Branch would like to thank everyone involved with
the Ulster Juniors for their hard work, dedication and
commitment. It takes a great deal of effort at the end
of a long season to keep things going. The Juniors
Management team appreciated the efforts of the staff
at the Ulster Branch, Barry Willis, Paul Whitten and
Lesley McGaughey for their help with the logistical
and organisational work behind the scenes. They
also wish to thank Ulster Branch Senior Vice President
Graffin Parke and wish him well for his incoming year
as President. It is always an extremely busy time of year
for Branch officials and representatives and Graffin did
an outstanding job of organising and coordinating with
his colleagues, who gave freely of their time, to attend
and support the Juniors at their three fixtures this year.
It was greatly appreciated and recognised as the best
support the Juniors have had for a number of years.
Many thanks go to Randalstown RFC and David
Anderson for hosting the home game against Munster,
especially at such short notice, and to John Todd for
stepping in for Colin as manager during his period
of paternity. Thanks also go to physiotherapist Katie
Lannon, who gave outstanding care and attention to the
players as always, and to Gareth Bell for his assistance
with the Juniors’ squad this year.
The name Billy Savage is synonymous and goes hand
in hand with the Ulster Juniors and yet again he didn’t
disappoint. With as many as twenty one new caps
utilised this season, they all now know who Billy Savage
is. Thanks Billy!
Well done and congratulations to Captain Chris Nash
and to all the players involved, including those who
didn’t quite make the match-day squad this time
around. It was a fantastic season for the Ulster team
and everyone who came along played their part in this
season’s success.
Finally, thanks and congratulations go to the new
Ulster Juniors Head Coach Richard Boyd, his assistant
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