Larne Grammar School will host Cambridge House School in the 1st Round of this season’s Danske Bank Ulster Schools’ Cup Competition on Saturday 1st December 2012. Both teams have experienced great difficulties in achieving anything in the way of successful results in the course of the season so far. In many respects, the Danske Bank Ulster Schools’ Cup game will give the players on both teams an opportunity to kick start their season.
There are talented players available to both teams. The Cambridge House team has an international flavour to their squad with two props with South African lineage available for selection. Chris Da Mata and Tinus Smit will hope to provide a platform for talented players such as Neil Woodcock, in the 2nd Row, and the backrow trio of Ben Wylie, Jonny McAllister Benn Junk to show their wares.
The Cambridge House half backs, Connor Spence and Vice-Capt, Philip Smyth, will hope to get a sufficient supply of quality possession to bring players such as Stephen Rankin, the UK Young Musician of the Year, and flying winger, Josh McIlroy, into the game. The loss to injury of their Captain, Philip Small, will be a blow for the Cambridge House boys but they will go into the game in a confident frame of mind.
The Larne Grammar School team has a number of talented players that will have to be at their best if they are to get anything in terms of a positive result from this game. Outhalf, Sam McIlwaine, on his day, is a player that the opposition would need to monitor closely. In many games this season, he has asked questions of most of the defences he has played against. The Larne Grammar School Captain, Corey Burleigh, is another talented player who will wish to give good support, as a centre, to the promptings of Sam McIlwaine. If these two players can get a supply of quality ball from the Larne Grammar School pack, they have the ability to ask questions of the Cambridge House defence.
Connor Connolly, Perri Sittlington and Jack Buchanan in the Larne Grammar School pack will carry the responsibility for acquiring the quality possession required. James Bacon, Callum McKay and Christopher Lough are other Larne Grammar School players who will hope to get their hands on the ball to ask questions of the Cambridge House defence in the course of the game..
This game is scheduled to kick off at 10-45am at the Lower Cairncastle Road venue in Larne.
