The second of our Danske Bank Ulster Schools' Cup semi-finals will see Dalriada School take on competition favourites, Campbell College, on Tuesday 1st March at Kingspan Stadium, in what is a repeat of the 1993 final!

DALRIADA SCHOOL v CAMPBELL COLLEGE
Kingspan Stadium, Tuesday 1st March, 2.30pm

Tickets are still available to pre-purchase through www.ulsterrugby.com/buytickets or you can pay at the gate on Tuesday.

Dalriada School, coached by Rab Gregg and Benji van der Byl, may have surprised a lot of people - with the possible exception of its players - by reaching the semi-final of the Danske Bank Ulster Schools’ Cup and a clash with Campbell College, an institution not unused to success in the competition!

The Ballymoney side has overcome the challenges presented by a very good Omagh Academy team at home in the second round, away against a committed Foyle College in the third round, and at home against a very confident and well-prepared Bangor Grammar School team at the quarter-final stage.

Dalriada has scored quite a few tries in the run to the last four, and it will surely adopt the same positive approach against Campbell. In 1993 the sides met in the Schools’ Cup Final, the Belfast team easing to the trophy by 46-13, and how the current group of Dalriada players would love to avenge that reverse on Tuesday!

Gregg and van der Byl did their homework on Bangor Grammar prior to the quarter-final game and the players carried their game plan meticulously, and the win was even more impressive given they had to replace a number of players who had picked up a ‘bug’ prior to kick-off!

The same amount of preparation will have gone to into this intriguing game and, once again, the Dalriada players will be eager to step up to the mark. The pack laid the foundations for victory against Bangor, squeezing the life out of the opposition forwards, denying Bangor Grammar any quality possession for long periods. More than comfortable at scrum time but it was in the lineout area where Dalriada’s hard work really paid off.
Hooker Jack Dowey, who also weighed in with a crucial try, was deadly accurate with his throws; Jack Horsborough, scorer of the decisive try towards the end of the game, ruled the lineouts, complementing secure ball on his own team’s throw but completing some important ‘steals’.

The back row ran itself into the ground with Matthew Kernohan and Alan Montgomery excelling in all aspects of play, especially at the breakdown. With Aaron Christie and Matthew Lockhart this is Kernohan’s third Danske Bank Ulster Schools’ Cup campaign.

Skipper Angus Johnston is the top try and points scorer, forming an astute half-back partnership with Matthew McConnaghie, their aim to move the opposition around the park in previous rounds.

The dominance of the Dalriada pack has allowed them to use this tactic successfully, so Campbell beware!

There is power and pace aplenty in the Dalriada backline, and direct lines of running and speed of attack have caused problems for opposition defences all season. Ross Fallows, Thomas Hunter and Gavin McConnaghie will enjoy using the wide open spaces afforded to them on the Kingspan pitch if the pack, and their fellow backs, can create sufficient space and possession.

Stewart Moore, a Year 12 pupil at the school, is considered a real talent in the back division, he’s a very talented rugby player who has scored many points this season with his eye for tries and his precise goal-kicking.

Successful with three out of four conversions against Omagh Academy, four out of five against Foyle and Londonderry College, Moore also scored points against Bangor Grammar. Already on the Ulster ‘radar’ Moore will be out to further impress against Campbell College on a showpiece occasion for his school.

As for the opposition the current Campbell College squad of players is seen by many as clear favourites to win and to go on and lift the trophy on St. Patrick’s Day - an expectation Dalriada would delight in overturning!

Campbell’s last appearance in the Ulster Schools’ Cup final was a winning one in 2011 with a team captained by John Creighton, and this season’s skipper, James Boyle, would love dearly to emulate that success. Campbell College had a resounding victory against Friends’ in the 3rd Round this year, but was made to work very hard by a typically committed and relentless Methodist College team for a thrilling 11-10 victory in the quarter-final.

That result was described by some close to the side as being as good as the performance was poor, and the Campbell coaches, Brian Robinson and Jonny Cupitt, will have worked on the perceived failings against Methody for the contest with Dalriada on Tuesday afternoon. They will not allow their charges to take the challenge provided by Dalriada lightly, and the preparation will reflect that.

Captain and hooker James Boyle leads his team from the front and with his props Matthew Russell and Tom O’Toole has been involved with Ulster Schools’ training squads. Second-row James Nelson featured with the Ulster Schools’ U18 earlier in the season and is joined by Marcus Collim, another talented player being monitored by the Ulster Rugby Talent ID Department.

In the back row, flankers Matthew and John Crowther, and No 8, Jack-Barry Glendinning, have all been involved with Ulster Schools’ U18 teams, and John showed another side to his game against Methodist College when he converted a superb penalty kick opportunity from all of 45 metres!

Glendinning was the try-scorer against Methody, while Malcolm Corry, Jonny Haldane, Paddy Beverland, Ben Webb, Oscar Yandell, Nicholai Koplewski and Jack Howard are key players in a very talented Campbell College backline which loves to get a chance to run with the ball at every conceivable opportunity.

They have all been regular try-scorers throughout the season and would relish crossing the whitewash in a semi-final win over a Dalriada side the players will know needs to be respected and carefully monitored.

Malcolm Corry is another first-rate place-kicker who will take full advantage of any opposition indiscretions so, equally, Dalriada will need to be disciplined for what does indeed promise to be a compelling meeting of two excellent, well-coached squads.

Two exciting Danske Bank Ulster Schools’ Cup semi-finals on successive afternoons at the Kingspan and in front of partisan but sporting fans – it really is something to savour.

Danske Bank Schools' Cup semi-final preview: Dalriada v Campbell College

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