Ulster Rugby vs Zebre

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.

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

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