Ulster Rugby vs Zebre

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The ST. Patrick’s Day showdown can certainly
be considered a clash of the ‘top two’, with the
Belfast rivals having lifted the famous trophy on
each of the last five years; Methody in 2012, 2013
and 2014, then RBAI in 2015 and 2016.
The Schools’ Cup, which has the distinction
of being the world’s second-oldest rugby
competition, was first played for in 1876 when
The Royal School Armagh defeated RBAI 3-0
in the inaugural final. The competition has been
played every year since and Methody currently
sit top of the roll of honour with 35 outright and 2
shared titles, while RBAI are in close pursuit on 31
outright and 4 shared titles.
ROAD TO THE FINAL…
Both RBAI and Methody began their Schools’
Cup campaign on Saturday 4th February in
Round 4.
RBAI made an early statement of intent when
they hosted Ballyclare at Osborne Park, running
in eight tries in a 54-0 win. Niall Armstrong,
Michael Lowry, Rhys O’Donnell and Zak Davidson
all touched down in the first half to give Belfast
Inst a commanding 28-0 lead at the interval,
while further second-half tries from Lowry, Conor
McCormack, James Hume and Angus Adair
sealed the comfortable win.
Methody were made to work much harder in
their first outing when they travelled to Down
High School where they eventually emerged
15-8 winners. The visitors made the brighter
start and a driven maul set up Paul Kerr to touch
down for a try which he converted himself. Down
High responded positively and forced a penalty
which Marcus Graham slotted over before
William Annett grabbed a try to put the hosts 8-7
ahead at half-time. Kerr added a penalty midway
through the second half to edge Methody back in
front then number 8 Thomas Gallagher stormed
in for try to secure the 15-8 win.
Campbell College, Belfast and RBAI played out
a re-enactment of the 2016 Danske Bank Ulster
Schools’ Cup final when they met at Fox’s Field
in the quarter-final of the 2017 competition. It
was Campbell who opened the scoring via a
Will Davis penalty but RBAI responded with a
Joseph Finnegan try to go in 5-3 ahead at the
break. In the early stages of the second half, RBAI
soaked up wave after wave of Campbell attacking
pressure but the Belfast Inst line somehow
remained intact. In the final minutes of the game
Lowry released Finnegan to get in for his second
unconverted try and seal a hard fought 10-3 win.
Methody were once again on the road in the
quarter-finals, this time away to The Royal
School Armagh where they were made to work
all the way for a narrow 28-24 win, in what was
a fantastic exhibition of schoolboy rugby. The
RS Armagh team controlled the game for long
periods of the first half and built up a deserved
15-7 lead after the opening 35 minutes thanks to
tries from Zak Thompson and Nicholas Jennings
plus five points from the boot of Glen Faloon,
while Thomas Gallagher got the first of his three
tries for Methody. In the second half, the home
side extended their lead to 21-7 thanks to two
further Faloon penalties before Methody captain
Matty Loane kick-started his team’s resurgence
with a try under the posts. Faloon responded with
another penalty to make it 24-14 but that would
prove to be the Royal School’s last real scoring
opportunity as Methody put in a storming final
quarter with Gallagher touching down twice more
to edge out the win for the visitors.
In the first of the Kingspan Stadium semi-finals
RBAI were faced with what looked like a tough
challenge versus Ballymena Academy, but the
holders continued their title defence quest with an
impressive 41-8 victory. The Ballymena men did
start the game brightly with some pressure inside
the RBAI ’22 but, not for the first time this year,
the defence remained resolute. Zak Davidson got
the opening try for RBAI when he took advantage
of a Ballymena knock-on to sprint in from 60
metres. Niall Armstrong added another try which
was converted by James Hume to make it 12-0 at
half-time, with Ballymena left to rue some missed
chances and unforced errors. Belfast Inst got off
to a flying start in the second half with Armstrong
squeezing over in the left corner for his second
DANSKE BANK SCHOOLS' FINAL CUP PREVIEW
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 last week.