Danske Bank Ulster Schools’ Round Up Saturday 11th October 2025.
It was a busy week of postponed Danske Bank Ulster Schools’ Cup qualifier, games, Danske Bank Ulster Schools’ U16 Cup and Shield games in the lead up to Danske Bank Ulster Schools’ Group Stage games, as well as a number of 1stxv friendly games played on Saturday 11th October.
On Monday 6th October, Royal Belfast Academical Institution played Ballymena Academy in a postponed 1stxv friendly game.
The Royal Belfast Academical Institution team won this game by 47-7 scoring seven tries in the process.
Adam Boyd touched down for a hattrick of tries, Andrew Purcell scored two with Seb Clarke and Cian McClean running in for one try apiece.
Charlie O’Connor was successful with six of his conversion kicks.
The Ballymena Academy points came through a try from Jacob Casson which was converted by James McMillan.
Tuesday 7th October saw the first of the postponed Danske Bank Ulster Schools’ Cup qualifier games take place when Bangor Academy hosted Grosvenor Grammar School.
This proved to be a very closely contested game which went right to the wire before the Bangor Academy team emerged as 13-10 winners.
The Bangor Academy team scored their points through a first half penalty from Sean Hynes, a second half penalty from Sean as well as a Frankie Forbes second half try which was converted by Seam Hynes.
The Grosvenor Grammar School points came through an unconverted first half try from Adam Osborne as well as an unconverted second half try from Ollie Hobson.
This result means that Bangor Academy will join Banbridge Academy, Dalriada School, Portadown College and Royal School, Dungannon in the Danske Bank Ulster Schools’ Cup Group Stage games.
On Wednesday 8th October, the three remaining postponed Danske Bank Ulster Schools’ Cup qualifier games took place.
Belfast High School hosted Lurgan College in an extremely high scoring game the Belfast High School team won by 58-36.
The Belfast High School team scored ten tries with their captain, Ben Gardner, touching down for five. Harry Palmer ran in for two tries with Evan Morrison, Will McIlveen and Jacob Hildrew each scoring one try.
Ben Gardner and Matthew McCabe each kicked two successful conversion kicks.
The Lurgan College team was not found wanting when it came to scoring tries in the course of this game.
Charlie Boyce touched down for a brace of tries with Ben Maxwell, Max Blair, Daniel Wilson and Seth Martin each scoring one try.
Ben Maxwell added the extras to three of the Lurgan College tries.
Belfast High School will now join Regent House School, Bangor Grammar School, Ballyclare High School and Omagh Academy in the Danske Bank Ulster Schools’ Cup Group Stage games.
Cambridge House Grammar School played Carrickfergus Grammar School and recorded a 42-0 victory.
Players such as Shay Gill, Scott Steele, Ryan Moore, Henri Kyle, Oliver Fulton, David Teodorescu, Thomas Frew, Henry Campbell and Thomas Moorehead contributed a great deal to the performance of the Cambridge House Grammar School team.
The Carrickfergus Grammar School team had a number of standout players on their team with Toby Keating, Alex McAllister, Max Matuszewski Joshua Oluwatala and Oliver Hill to the fore.
Cambridge House Grammar School will now join Limavady Grammar School, Down High School, Dromore High School and Rainey Endowed School in the Danske Bank Ulster Schools’ Cup Group Stage games.
Foyle and Londonderry College entertained Antrim Grammar School and won their way through to a 34-8 victory.
Josh Nutt, George Rough, Niall Kelly, Cian O’Leary, Thom O’Neill and Jack Peace scored the Foyle College tries with Niall added two successful conversion kicks.
The Antrim Grammar School team contributed a lot to this Danske Bank Ulster Schools’ Cup Group Stage qualifier game.
Jonah Woolley, Alex Moss, Daniel Blair, Tom McNeilly, the try scorer and Isaac Lynn, who converted a penalty kick opportunity, all impressed with their performances.
The Foyle and Londonderry College team will now join Larne Grammar school, Enniskillen Royal Grammar School, Coleraine Grammar School and Friends’ School, Lisburn in the Danske Bank Ulster Schools’ Group Stage games.
In the Danske Bank Ulster Schools’ U16 Cup, Sullivan Upper School played Ballymena Academy and recorded a 23-14 victory.
This result means that Campbell College, Belfast will now play Sullivan Upper School in the final of the Danske Bank Ulster Schools’ U16 Cup on Wednesday 22nd October Venue TBC.
In the same competition, Ballyclare High School played Belfast Royal Academy in a game the Ballyclare High School team won by 52-12.
In the Danske Bank Ulster Schools’ U16 Shield, Dalriada School played Royal School, Armagh in a game the Royal School, Armagh team won by 35-5.
This win ensures the Royal School, Armagh team has completed their three games in the Danske Bank Ulster Schools’ U16 Shield as being undefeated winners.
One 1stxv friendly games took place when Campbell College, Belfast played Belvedere College, Dublin.
The Campbell College, Belfast team won the game by 36-17.
Russ Lovo, with two, Davy Nelson and Harry Burrows scored the Campbell College tries.
One penalty try, alongside three Jack Best conversions as well as one penalty goal, completed the Campbell College scoring.
The Belvedere College team ran in three tries through Alex Clarke, Adam Keeling and Bruce Ryan one of which was converted by Johnny Garrihy.
On Friday 10th October the Queen’s University Rugby Club pitch at the Dub Arena was the venue when Wallace High School played Belfast Royal Academy in a 1stxv friendly game.
A large crowd of enthusiastic spectators had gathered to watch the game which Belfast Royal Academy won by 24-14.
James Gould scored two tries for the Wallace High School team with James Curran successfully adding both conversion kicks.
Zach Archer, with two, and Blake McCloskey scored the Belfast Royal Academy tries.
Connor McVicker had a fine evening off the tee with three successful conversion kicks as well as one successful penalty kick.
Both teams, their coaches and supporters, would like to thank Queen’s RFC for the use of facilities and hosting the game.
It was a busy day on Saturday 11th October with eight Danske Bank Ulster Schools’ Cup Group Stage games taking place, alongside a number of 1stxv friendly games.
In Group A of the Danske Bank Ulster Schools’ Cup, Regent House School played Bangor Grammar School and recorded a close 22-19 victory.
The Regent House School points came through tries from Toby McSorley, Jed Pountney and Lewis Robinson.
Zach McMinn added two successful conversion kicks as well as one successful penalty kick.
The Bangor Grammar School points came through tries from Cal Banyard, Noah Lack and George Patterson.
Bruce McClure added two successful conversion kicks.
Ballyclare High School played Omagh Academy and recorded a 48-22 victory.
Josh McColgan ran in for two tries, Jude Semple touched down for a hattrick of tries with Josh Tweed, Daniel Jenkins and Ross Ferguson each scoring one try apiece.
James Woodside added the extras to three of the Ballyclare High School tries with Jack Smith adding a fourth successful conversion.
Omagh Academy scored four tries in the course of the game with Lewis McIvor touching down twice and Jacob Crosbie and Joshua Orr each scoring one try.
Sam Harper was successful with one conversion kick.
In Group B of the Danske Bank Ulster Schools’ Cup, Limavady Grammar School played Down High School in a game the Down High School won by 27-5.
The Limavady Grammar School points came through an unconverted try from James Mackey.
The Down High School points came through a penalty try, two tries from Alex Watson and one try each from Lewis Connolly and Dylan McMullan.
Rainey Endowed School played Cambridge House Grammar School and won the game by 32-7.
The Rainey Endowed School team scored five tries with Jacob Ennis McManus running in for two and Lorcan McLarnon, Adrian Martin and Joe O’Kane touching down for one try apiece.
Adrian Martin was successful also with two conversion kicks as well as one penalty kick.
The Cambridge House Grammar School team points came through a try from Henri Kyle which was converted by Thomas Moorehead.
In Group C of the Danske Bank Ulster Schools’ Cup, Dalriada School played Royal School, Dungannon in a game the Royal School, Dungannon team won by 24-17.
The Dalriada School team scored three tries with Archie Graham running in for a brace and Adam Torrens touching down for one.
Chris Finney was successful with one conversion kick.
The Royal School, Dungannon team scored four tries with Adam Nixon touching down twice and Blake Redmond and James Gibson each scoring one try.
James added the extras to two of the Royal School, Dungannon tries.
Banbridge Academy hosted Portadown College and won the game by 27-10.
The Banbridge Academy points came through a penalty from Daniel Byrne, a try and conversion from Daniel Byrne, an unconverted try from Sam Leslie, and unconverted try from Conor Comiskey and a try from Dawson Knox which was converted by Daniel Byrne.
The Portadown College team scored two unconverted tries through Jacob Best and Callum Doak.
In Group D of the Danske Bank Ulster Schools’ Cup, Larne Grammar School played Enniskillen Royal Grammar School in a game the Enniskillen Royal Grammar School team won by 26-12.
On the back of good work from Elliott Bagshaw, Corbin Marsden touched down twice for the Larne Grammar School team.
Will Millar was successful with one conversion kick.
The Enniskillen Royal Grammar School team scored four tries through Ben Wallace, Alfie Lucy, Sam Paton and Adam Little.
Sam Paton added the extras to three of the Enniskillen Royal Grammar School tries.
Coleraine Grammar School entertained Foyle and Londonderry College and recorded a 45-17 victory.
Joshua Hawe touched down for two Coleraine Grammar School tries with Oliver McClean, Tetsi Natvoski, Charlie Millar, Lewis Marshall and Joe Coates each scoring one try.
Luke McCauley was successful with five of his conversion kicks.
The Foyle College team contributed a lot to the game and got rewarded for their endeavours with two tries and one conversion from Niall Kelly alongside on try from Luke Wilson.
Antrim Grammar School, Grosvenor Grammar School and Lurgan College have all organised to play a series of block fixture games, both home and away, on the same weekends as the Danske Bank Ulster Schools’ Cup Group Stage games are taking place.
The first of these Ulster Schools’ Qualifying Schools’ League friendly games took place on Saturday 11th October when Antrim Grammar School played Grosvenor Grammar School.
This closely contested game saw the Grosvenor Grammar School emerges as 18-17 winners at the no side whistle.
The Antrim Grammar School team scored two tries through Daniel Blair and Ethan Carr, both of which were converted by Isaac Lynn who was also successful with one penalty kick.
The Grosvenor Grammar School team points came through tries from Ollie Hobson and Patrick Purdy with Peter Ward adding one successful conversion kick as well as two successful penalty kicks.
Three more friendly games took place at 1stxv level when Friends’ School, Lisburn hosted Royal School, Armagh in a game which the Royal School, Armagh team won by 50-15.
The Friends’ School, Lisburn team scored three unconverted tries through Joel Irwin, Taylor Monteith and Oliver Louge.
The Royal School, Armagh points came through tries from James Hamilton, Patrick Seweryn, Harry Dougan, Nathan Hamilton, Tom Kennedy, with two and Joshua Crawford, with two.
Ben Best added two successful conversion kicks and Tom Kennedy added three successful conversion kicks.
Methodist College, Belfast played Ballymena Academy in their annual Young Memorial Cup game which the Methodist College, Belfast team won by 41-7.
The Methodist College, Belfast team scored their points through tries from Alex Turkington, with two and one try each from Rory Kennedy, Oliver Gartley, Harry Docherty, Peter Lindsay and Noah Davey.
Louis Curran was successful with three of his conversion kicks.
The Ballymena Academy team contributed a lot to the pace of the game and got some reward for their work when George Gamble ran in for a try which was converted by James McMillan.
Sullivan Upper School played Royal Belfast Academical Institution in a game the Royal Belfast Academical Institution team won by 52-5.
The consolation unconverted Sullivan Upper School ret was scored by Jacob McKeown.
The Royal Belfast Academical Institution team scored eight tries with a hattrick from Benjamin McCarten, a brace from Matthew Elliott and one try each from Ross Dillon, Connor Davis and Reuben McIwrath.
Charlie O’Connor added six successful conversion kicks.
