The holders scored 7 tries in a dominant performance played in front of a sold-out crowd at Queen's Sport, Upper Malone.
An early lineout maul set the tone for a day that would be dominated by the Armagh pack, and it was openside Matthew Maguire who touched down in the corner. Despite the tricky angle, fullback Josh Watterson nailed his conversion.
The next attempt from another maul was initially stopped short of the line, but Armagh captain James Anderson crashed over from close range to keep the scoreboard moving in their favour.
Tighthead prop Kristoffer MacKenzie then drove over as the forwards continued to dominate. He scored close to the posts and Watterson had no problems with the kick to give Armagh a 19-0 lead at the break.
Early in the second half, MacKenzie again showed good strength to power over for his second try, with Watterson knocking over the conversion to make it 26-0.
Down High then enjoyed a spell of dominance and made some good ventures into the opposition 22 before hooker Fionn Carey got over the line for their first try.
A few minutes later, inside centre Rhodri Phillips scored and then converted his own effort to spark hopes of a comeback and make it 26-12.
However, these were quickly extinguished when the Armagh pack drove over from a lineout, and hooker Sam Montgomery emerged with the ball.
Down High immediately replied through replacement front row Matthew Foster, who got over the line from close range with Phillips converting to make it 31-19.
With the clock ticking down, Armagh replacement Nili Tuipulotu skipped past a few tackles and darted in under the posts for a try, leaving Watterson with a routine kick at goal for the extras.
Watterson then rounded off a superb afternoon for his school, as he combined well with Maguire and Matthew Whittle before racing clear to score Armagh's 7th try.
This effort made it 43-19, and was the last act of the final which saw Royal School Armagh successfully defend the Danske Bank Subsidiary Shield.
### Teams
