Danske Bank Ulster Schools' U16 Cup Programme

U16 FINAL
BALLYMENA
ACADEMY
v METHODIST COLLEGE
WED 17 NOV 2021, 2.30PM
KINGSPAN STADIUM

Contents
President’s
Welcome 1
Message from
the Ulster Schools’
Committee 2
Danske Bank
Welcome 3
Proud sponsors
of Danske Bank
Ulster Schools’
U16 Cup Rugby
President’s
Welcome
Welcome to all the players, supporters,
teachers, and families from both Ballymena
Academy and Methody to today’s final.
I would like to thank to our sponsors Danske
Bank for their continued backing of all our
schools’ competitions.
This is the first running of this U16 tournament,
and it has proven to be a great forum for
players from Medallion to make the step from
junior rugby up to the senior level.
There have been a total of 35 games completed
in this exciting new tournament and we are
now at the finals stage.
I want to wish all the teams competing in the
3 respective finals today the very best, and
hopefully everyone will have a great day.
U16 Route to
the Final 4
Team
Line-ups 6
Ballymena
Academy 8
Methodist
College 10
Danske Bank Ulster
Schools’ Cup Launch 12
Stadium
Map 15
danskebankschoolscup.com
Gary Leslie
President, IRFU Ulster Branch
Danske Bank is a trading name of Northern Bank Limited. Registered in Northern Ireland R568. Registered Office: Donegall
Square West, Belfast. BT1 6JS. Northern Bank Limited is a member of the Danske Bank Group. www.danskebank.co.uk.
1

Welcome
from
Danske Bank
Message from the
Ulster Schools’ Committee
It is with great pleasure that we
congratulate Ballymena Academy,
Methodist College Belfast, Dalriada
School, The Royal School Armagh,
Limavady Grammar School and Regent
House on reaching today’s Danske Bank
Ulster U16 Schools’ Finals.
This is the first year that a competition
has been played at this level and attracted
entries from 25 schools at three different
levels. From the outset, the purpose of
this competition has been twofold. Firstly,
to provide a good level of competitive
rugby for that group of players who
missed out on last year’s Medallion Shield.
Secondly, it was also seen as a way to help
these players transition into senior rugby
by keeping them together for a period of
time. The competition has seen at total
of 35 matches played to date with the
three finals all taking place today at three
different venues.
Over recent years, the Schools’ Committee,
along with support from schools, has been
promoting the IRFU Codes of Conduct
and I hope that everyone respects
them, ensuring a positive experience for
everyone involved in today’s matches.
Danske Bank has been a generous and
loyal supporter of Ulster Schools’ Rugby
for the past 17 years. We are delighted
to have their support and welcome their
continued interest in rugby at this level.
We also thank them for their patience over
the past year and a half when very little
rugby was played due to the pandemic.
In conclusion, we thank the Ulster Society
of Rugby Football Referees for their
support of Ulster Schools’ Rugby and,
in particular, today’s referees and their
teams of officials.
We offer our best wishes to all teams and
hope that you all enjoy the games.
RJ Clingan
Chair, Ulster Schools’ Committee
It is with great pleasure that we welcome
you to the first Danske Bank U16 Schools’
Cup Final between Ballymena Academy
and Methodist College Belfast. It’s
exciting to see the return to sport in
schools across Northern Ireland and the
resumption of schools competitions.
This new competition has been an excellent
opportunity for last year’s Medallion
players to get back to competitive rugby
and we were delighted to see the Ulster
Schools’ Committee providing a format
to ensure players get more experience of
competitive rugby this season. It will also
be a great opportunity for pupils, parents,
siblings, coaches and teachers to throw
themselves back into the excitement of
watching live School Rugby after a long
eighteen month hiatus.
We’re an extremely proud sponsor of
youth rugby, GAA and football across
Northern Ireland, and we really hope to
see more competitive games for all over
the 2021/22 season.
I would like to take this opportunity to
congratulate the teams, their captains,
coaches, supporters, Ulster Rugby and
Ulster Schools’ Committee on their
commitment and dedication to getting
back to competitive school rugby.
On behalf of everyone at Danske Bank, I
wish both teams the very best of luck in
this first U16 final.
Vicky Davies
Chief Executive
Danske Bank UK
3

Match Day 2
U16 Route to
the Final
Danske Bank Ulster Schools’ U16 Cup
Match Day 1
Belfast Royal Academy 7 - 59 Ballymena Academy
RBAI 32 - 0 Ballyclare High School
Sullivan Upper 24 - 22 Campbell College
Methodist College 21 - 7 Wallace High School
Match Day 2
Ballymena Academy 10 - 0 RBAI
Ballyclare High School 31 - 20 Belfast Royal Academy
Campbell College 10 - 12 Methodist College
Wallace High School 10 - 26 Sullivan Upper
Match Day 3
Ballyclare High School 0 - 44 Ballymena Academy
RBAI 17 - 5 Belfast Royal Academy
Wallace High School 7 - 24 Campbell College
Methodist College 47 - 7 Sullivan Upper
Banbridge Academy 57 - 7 Dromore High
Dalriada 12 - 10 Down High School
Royal School Armagh 12 - 8 Omagh Academy
Rainey Endowed 19 - 15 Enniskillen RGS
Match Day 3
Dalriada 15 - 10 Banbridge Academy
Down High School 24 - 10
Dromore High
Rainey Endowed 11 - 17 Royal School Armagh
Enniskillen RGS 31 - 14 Omagh Academy
Final
Wed 17 Nov, 2pm | BRA
Royal School Armagh v Dalriada
Danske Bank Ulster Schools’ U16 Bowl
Match Day 1
Grosvenor Grammar School 33 - 7 Belfast High School
Limavady Grammar School 12 - 10 Foyle College
Lurgan College 0 - 56 Portadown College
Match Day 2
Belfast High School 0 - 43 Regent House
Foyle College 54 - 7 Strabane Academy
Portadown College 22 - 5 Friends’ School
Match Day 3
Regent House 48 - 5 Grosvenor Grammar School
Strabane Academy 12 - 38 Limavady Grammar School
Friends’ School 76 - 0 Lurgan College
Danske Bank Ulster Schools’ U16 Plate
Match Day 1
Down High School 12 - 13 Banbridge Academy
Dromore High 21 - 29 Dalriada
Enniskillen RGS 24 - 28 Royal School Armagh
Omagh Academy 14 - 21 Rainey Endowed
Semi-finals
Limavady Grammar School 17 - 12 Portadown College
Regent House 17 - 13 Foyle College
Final
Wed 17 Nov, 2pm | Antrim Grammar
Limavady Grammar School v Regent House
5

BALLYMENA
ACADEMY
v
METHODIST COLLEGE
BELFAST
JANUARY
Sean McKay
Michael McLean
Tom Coulter
Daniel Vercoe-Rogers
Mark Glenn
15
14
13
12
11
Michael Armstrong
Finn Gibbs
Harry McNiece
Lewis Doherty
Ben Gillen
PASS
Robbie Coleman
10
Oliver Berry
Callum Irvine
9
Jack Tindel
Henry Casson
1
Jacob Lewis
Callum Mustoe
2
Dylan Torrens
Hayden Smith
3
Josh Emerson
Joshua Gallagher
4
Gabe McConkey
Daniel Hayburn
5
Tyrese Abdarin
Reece Williamson
6
Rudy Jordan
Stevie Bristow (C)
7
Oliver Neill (C)
Conan Scullion
8
Harry Malangeni
REPLACEMENTS
Joshua Harvey
Jacob Hoy
Harry Harbinson
Tommy Chambers
Jonny Wylie
Ali Carson
Lewis Hunter
James McIlroy
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
Ross Bolan
Ben Gallagher
Fergal Black
Ivan Songavan
Conor Ho
William O’Dowd
Christain Law
Max McClintock
Ref: Chris Cahoon
Assistant Refs: Chris Russell, Bill Halliday & Richard Kerr
SAT 1 JAN
7.35pm
Kingspan
Stadium
SAT 22 JAN
5.30pm
Kingspan
Stadium
w/o 28-30 JAN
TBC
Kingspan
Stad
Adults
from£68 Juniors
from
£40
7

Ballymena
Academy
Played 3
Won 3
Lost 0
Drew 0
Points For 113
Points Against 7
Points Difference 106
Bonus Points 2
Game 1:
Away v Belfast Royal Academy, won 52-7
Game 2:
Home vs RBAI, won 10-0
Game 3:
Away vs Ballyclare, won 47-0
Head of Rugby: John Andrews
Coach: Arran Moore
Assist Coach: Jimmy Carson
Pitch side: Stephen Johnston
Strength & Conditioning: Nikki Andrews
Captain: Stevie Bristow
Position: Back Row
“I can’t wait, I’m so excited – we
all are. Obviously, the Medallion
Shield was cancelled last year
and we didn’t think we’d get a
crack at a cup, but we’ve put in
so much hard work and we’re just
buzzing at the opportunity.
disappointed when it got called off. So we
all feel this is a great opportunity to have a
crack at a cup and to keep playing together.
“Methody will be a tough game, but we’ll
go out there and give it everything to bring
the cup home.”
“Our first game was BRA and we came
flying out of the blocks and scored a few
tries. Then it was Inst at home, and it’s
always a tough game against Inst. It was a
bit of a scrap, but we came out on the right
side and defended well, and then we had
Ballyclare in the last game and won easily.
“I was excited for this competition because
last season we felt we had a good chance
at the Medallion Shield and we were so
9

Methodist
College Belfast
Played 3
Won 3
Lost 0
Drew 0
Points For 80
Points Against 17
Points Difference 63
Bonus Points 1
Game 1:
Home v Wallace, won 21-7
Game 2:
Away v Campbell, won 12-10
Game 3:
Away v Sullivan, won 47-7
Captain: Oliver Neill
Position: Back Row
“To get the chance to play at
Kingspan Stadium - words cannot
describe it. I’m ecstatic, really
excited! You look out there onto
the pitch and it’s beautiful. I
did play here once before, in
Primary School, and experience
is unbeatable.
“So far in the Cup, I was injured and missed
the first game against Wallace, which we
won. We then played Campbell and it
was really close. They got a try in the first
minute and we were scrambling back, and
then won it with a conversion with the very
last kick of the game. Our last group game
was against Sullivan to see which of us
would reach the final, and we were
Head of Rugby: Nick Wells
Coach: James Kennedy
Assist Coach: Danny Annett
Pitch side: Stephen Johnston
Strength and Conditioning: Andy Willis
Physio: John Slack
Doctor: Adrian Neill
amazing in that match. We were aggressive
and worked through the phases and it
ended up 47-7.
“Before, I wasn’t too sure about this new
competition, as I was thinking whether or
not we should just go into senior rugby –
but now that I’m in it, I’m really excited to
be here.
“It’s good to be back with my team and
to get a proper final,
and I feel like we
deserve it.”
11

Danske Bank Ulster
Schools’ Cup Launch
The launch of the Danske Bank Ulster
Schools’ Cup took place last week at
Kingspan Stadium, with fixtures also
drawn for the first and second rounds of
the competition.
Each of the competing 32 schools was
represented by the 1st XV captain, with
the draw conducted by Kevin Heavern,
Head of Marketing at Danske Bank, and
IRFU Ulster Branch President Gary Leslie.
The tournament structure for the season
2021/2022 will revert to the knockout
format most recently used in the
2018/2019 season, with 4 entry levels
further explained to follow.
Fixtures will get under way later this
month, with the first round taking place
on or before Saturday 27 November.
Larne Grammar School have been drawn
against Carrickfergus Grammar School,
with Strabane Academy receiving a bye
into round 2. The losing side from this
solitary first round fixture will compete in
the Trophy Competition.
SECOND ROUND
2 teams will progress from Round 1 and
then be joined by a further 10 teams. The
draw produced the following fixtures, to be
played on or before Saturday 11 December.
Limavady Grammar v Lurgan College
Strabane Academy v Grosvenor Grammar
Regent House v Larne/Carrick
Belfast High School v Portadown College
Banbridge Academy v Friends’ School
Dalriada v Cambridge House
THIRD ROUND
6 teams will progress from Round 2 and
then be joined by the following 10 teams:
• Bangor Grammar School
• Belfast Royal Academy
• Coleraine Grammar School
• Down High School
• Dromore High School
• Enniskillen Royal Grammar School
• Foyle College
• Omagh Academy
• Rainey Endowed School
• Royal School Armagh
A draw will then take place to produce 8
fixtures [to take place on or before Saturday
15 January], with the winners progressing
to Round 4. The 8 teams eliminated at this
stage will play in the Bowl Competition.
FORTH ROUND
8 teams will progress from Round 3 and
then be joined by the following 8 teams:
• Ballyclare High School
• Ballymena Academy
• Campbell College
• Methodist College
• RBAI
• Royal School Dungannon
• Sullivan Upper
• Wallace High School
A draw will then take place to produce
8 fixtures [to take place on or before
Saturday 29 January], with the winners
progressing to the quarter finals, to be
played on or before 12 February. The 8
teams eliminated at this stage will play in
the Subsidiary Shield Competition.
The holders of the Schools’ Cup
are currently Royal School Armagh and
Wallace High School, as they shared
the honours after the cancellation of
2020’s final.
FINAL
This season’s Danske Bank Ulster
Schools’ Cup Final will take place
on Thursday 17 March, 3pm at
Kingspan Stadium.
13

Important:
To ensure a safe and enjoyable experience for all supporters,
Ulster Rugby would ask all supporters to follow the latest public health
guidance in relation to COVID-19 restrictions.
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make use of hand sanitisation stations, and be distance-aware and
respectful of other supporters.
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15

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