Ulster Age Grade
Monday 20 October saw the Ballymena Academy U16XV and 2XV squads travel to the Meadowbank Arena pitches in Magherafelt where they played fixtures against the Ulster Clubs’ U17 and U18 squads.
The Ulster Clubs’ U17 team lost out to the Ballymena Academy U16 team by 25-17.
The Ulster points came through tries from Niall Murphy (City of Armagh) and Matthew Fitzsimmons (Ballynahinch).
Drew Wilson (Civil Service) added the extras to both tries as well as kicking one successful penalty goal.
Conor Vercoe-Rogers, Oscar Eddis and Charlie King each scored one try for Ballymena Academy.
Daniel Johnston was successful with both conversion kicks as well as with two penalty kicks.
Ulster Clubs’ U18 defeated Ballymena Academy 2XV by 14-10 at the end of the closely contested encounter.
Harry Smyth (Coleraine) and Ayrton Pienaar (Virginia RFC) scored the Ulster Clubs’ tries to which Conor Frazer (Malone) added both successful conversion kicks.
Jack McMaster and Seth McCready each touched down for an unconverted try for Ballymena Academy 2XV.
Danske Bank Ulster Schools’ U16 Cup
On Wednesday 22 October, CIYMS was the venue when Campbell College played Sullivan Upper School in the final of the U16 Cup.
The game was played on a great surface at CIYMS RFC and, in front of a large crowd of enthusiastic supporters, and it was Campbell College that emerged as 24-10 winners.
Following the game, Greg Irwin, Senior Vice President of the Ulster Branch, and Vicky Davis, CEO Danske Bank, presented the medals to players from both teams and then the U16 Cup to Peter Young, captain of the victorious Campbell College team.
Greg congratulated both teams on reaching the final, thanked the coaches of both teams for the work they have put in with the players, thanked the parents, guardians and families of all the players for the support given, thanked the referee, Jonny Erskine, and his team of Nathan Lamont and Caitlin Fisher, thanked CIYMS RFC for the provision of facilities and hosting the game and thanked Danske Bank for their continued support for Ulster Schools’ Rugby.
Greg finished the formalities by wishing the players from both teams a successful season in the weeks and months ahead.
1XV Friendlies
Two 1XV friendly games took place on Wednesday 22 October.
A Ballyclare High School “Select” XV played Grosvenor Grammar School in a game Ballyclare High won by 38-7.
Ballyclare High scored six tries with Joshua Gilchrist running in for two and Jude Wilson, Jack Morrow, Daniel Montgomery and Elijah Adair each touching down for one try.
Max Scullion was successful with four of his conversion kicks.
The Grosvenor points came from a try scored by Sam Ferguson which was converted by Peter Ward.
Antrim Grammar School hosted Larne Grammar School in a game the Larne Grammar School team won by 31-12.
Antrim Grammar scored two tries through Jonah Woolley and Daniel Blair.
Matthew Ewart added the extras to one of the tries.
On the back of good performances from players such as Corbin Marsden and Nicholas Robinson, Larne Grammar School scored their points through tries from Benjamin Sterling, Ralph Wilson, Ben Simpson, Ryan McDowell and Elliott Bagshaw.
Matthew Crawford was successful with three of his conversion kicks.
Despite being the first weekend of a well-deserved half term break, quite a few 1XV friendly games were played on Saturday.
The Ballyclare High School “Select” XV played their second game in a few days when they hosted Lurgan College in a game Ballyclare won by 41-7.
Joshua Gilchrist, Daniel Jenkins, with a brace, Adam Johnston, Max Scullion, Jack Morrow and Josh Nesbitt were the Ballyclare try scorers.
Max Scullion added the extras to three of the Ballyclare tries.
Lurgan College scored one try through Lewis Irwin which was converted by Seth Martin.
Belfast Royal Academy played Ballymena Academy in a game which saw Ballymena Academy get back to winning ways with a 33-10 victory.
Belfast Royal Academy scored one try through James Murray which was converted by Connor McVicker who was also successful with one penalty kick.
Ballymena Academy scored five tries through George Gamble, Ben Collins, Jacob Casson, with two, and Elijah Fitzpatrick.
James McMillan added four successful conversion kicks.
Cambridge House Grammar School played Portadown College in a game Portadown College won by 43-7.
The Cambridge House points came through a try from Henry Kyle which was converted by Thomas Moorehead.
Portadown College scored seven tries through Caleb Ruddell, Harvey Creaney, Charlie Rodgers, Filip Scmielowicz, Andrew Galloway, with two, and Sam Bentley.
Charlie Rodgers was also successful with four of his conversion kicks.
Coleraine Grammar School entertained Campbell College in a game played in very difficult overhead and underfoot conditions which Campbell College won by 26-13.
On the back of an impressive performance from Joshua Hawe, Coleraine Grammar scored one try through Oliver McClean, which was converted by Ben Todd who also scored two penalty kicks.
Campbell College scored four tries through Zach Thompson, James Wells, David Nelson and Conor McKinney.
Jack Best added three successful conversion kicks.
Enniskillen Royal Grammar School played Wallace High School in a game Wallace won by 17-7.
Enniskillen Royal scored one try through Adam Little which was converted by Sam Paton.
Wallace scored three tries through Josh Martin, with two, and James Gould.
James Curran added one successful conversion kick.
Foyle College played a Dalriada School “Select” XV in a game Foyle College won by 50-12.
Thom O’Neill, Cian O’Leary, with a hattrick, Vadin Khodakov, Adam Donnell, Jack Peace and Ethan Gallick were the Foyle try scorers.
Niall Kelly was successful with four conversion kicks with Darwyn Nutt adding a fifth.
Dalriada scored two tries through Matthew McCamphill and Josh McComb, one of which was converted by Chris Finney.
Methodist College played their annual-fixture against Christian Brother’s College Cork at Pirrie Park.
MCB won this long-standing fixture by 32-10.
Isaac Bell, Noah Davey, Oliver Gartley, Ruairi Kennedy and Luca Vericat, with two, were the MCB try scorers to which Louis Curran added one successful conversion kick.
Sean Fitzpatrick and Harry McCarthy each touched down for an unconverted try for the CBC team.
Regent House School entertained the Bishop’s Stortford U18 team in a game Regent House won by 31-15.
Regent House scored five tries through Callum Megarity, Toby McSorley, Finn McClean and Joey Carson, with two.
Matthew Wilson added three successful conversion kicks.
At the same time, a team comprising of players from Regent House, Ards RFC U18 and Donaghadee RFC U18 played against a Bishop Stortford “Select” XV.
The combined Regent House School/Ards /Donaghadee team won this game by 28-21.
RBAI hosted Blackrock College Dublin in a closely contested game Blackrock won by 29-22.
The RBAI points came through tries from Ross Dillon, Dylan Gray and Benjamin McCarten.
Charlie O’Connor added two successful conversion kicks as well as one penalty goal.
The Blackrock points came through tries from Louis Magee, Geoff Wall, Rhys Keogh and James Browne.
Bernard White was successful with one conversion kick while Luke Coffey added two successful conversions as well as one penalty goal.
Photography provided by John Dickson & Front Row Union Sports