Schools’ Cup quarter-final previews: Dromore High School eager to upset Campbell College

The first year that Dromore High had a senior rugby team, their First XV only played other teams’ Seconds or Thirds. It took them at least a year to finally arrange a Firsts v Firsts match.

So forgive them for being rather excited by the prospect of tomorrow when, for the first time in the school’s history, their seniors will play a quarter-final in the Danske Bank Schools’ Cup.

Captain Max Brush revealed: “School has been mental. Everybody in school has been up for it.

“There’s been a real buzz all week, boys are buying flags, guys have come up with songs, the face paint is out — it’s amazing.”

Head of rugby Rob Logan chimed in: “We came back in on the Monday after beating Regent (in round four) and our vice-principal had decorated the school with balloons and photographs and really went to town.”

That even the teachers are getting swept away in the euphoria, dousing the school with a healthy blue and navy hue as a way of celebrating, shows what it means to Dromore to be this far in the competition, preparing for a trip to Campbell College (10.30am) for a first-ever last-eight tie.

For a school who were only granted a place in the Schools’ Cup five years ago after dominating the high school scene, their rise has been meteoric and they’ve done so on the back of some hard work on the pitch that sees players follow a strict physical and nutritional plan led by Logan and off it by a supportive board of governors and a rugby sub-committee dedicated to advancing the game.

But while some may believe tomorrow is their Everest, ask those involved and they will rebuff you. Dromore aren’t satisfied to be the plucky underdogs happy to take their turn in the spotlight once in a while.

Rather than just ad lib it and hope for a good group of players every so often, there’s a 10-year plan in place for Dromore to keep progressing and — spoiler alert — it ends on the steps of Kingspan Stadium.

“We’re trying to achieve that in year five, we haven’t given up on that,” pointed out Logan. “The ambition of the school would be to be a quarter-final school regularly.

“These guys are privileged to be writing the next chapter of the school’s history but this is the standard we want to be at. The boys are aware they’re the only high school left in the competition and have made history by reaching the quarter-finals.

“We want to make those incremental improvements. It will be a challenge because these guys have set the bar very high and we’ve jumped a few rungs very quickly. But there’s one thing about a Dromore man: they’re not afraid of hard work.

“We’re not naive enough to think that we’ll do this every year but our target is to try to.”

Their incremental targets are met through pushing the boundaries, such as using a cryospa for injury rehab and jetting off to South Africa as a squad in 2019, which was such a success they hope to repeat it in 2023.

Brush, who will miss the rest of their campaign after dislocating his ankle, added: “It was an amazing trip. That brought us together more than anything else ever could have.”

In his stead, prop Ryan Rodgers will lead the team tomorrow, revealing that their fourth-round win over Regent was at least a little personal to him.

“When we were in third or fourth year we were knocked out of the Schools’ Cup by Regent, and then we went and beat them in the previous round to get into the quarters. That was a big moment for us,” he said.

They hope there will be more big moments to come, and it says a lot about their attitude that they won’t be happy if their historic run ends tomorrow — a sentiment shared by the entire school.

Logan said: “I had a third year knock on my door today saying he dreamt we’d beaten Campbell!

“That shows the impact these boys are having and that’s what we want. I don’t want to hear this ‘we have nothing to lose’ talk. We do have something to lose.

“We’re going in and backing ourselves on Saturday and, if we do, we will be disappointed to lose. We’re not just happy to be here, we want to win.”

Ballyclare High school v Methodist College Belfast: 10.30am

A GOOD-NATURED rivalry between Ballyclare High head coach Mike Orchin-McKeever and Methodist College counterpart Nick Wells will add a little bit of an edge to their Schools’ Cup quarter-final.

The pair are good friends and Orchin-McKeever has revealed there will be some banter and ribbing before they meet on the touchline in Ballyclare tomorrow.

“I’m expecting a very well organised, drilled, direct, strong, physical Methody side. It’s about meeting them head on with that physical challenge — they have a strong pack, but we have a belief in ours that they can stop them and win this game,” said the High School coach.

“Nick Wells and I get on quite well, I know the type of rugby he plays and we’d be sending a few messages back and forth before the game saying we’re going to beat the other!”

An unfortunate clash with a ski trip has denied Orchin-McKeever some of his players, but he’s been boosted by the return of Ulster U19 winger Callum Baird, who scored a hat-trick for their Seconds last week.

Methodist College will look to the likes of Michael Crothers to spearhead their attack, with the No.8 supported in the forwards by Patrick Fullerton-Healy and Josh Stevens.

The centre pairing of Jordan Hanratty and Peter Hagan can be lethal when given time and space, but that is dependent on how the pack measures up against a strong Ballyclare effort.

VERDICT: Methodist College Belfast

Campbell College v Dromore HS: 10.30am

A COVID-19 outbreak in the Dromore High camp has impacted their preparation for tomorrow’s first-ever last-eight tie against Campbell College, but director of rugby Rob Logan is confident it won’t completely derail their bid to go one step further and book their place at Kingspan Stadium.

“It did hurt our preparation a bit but we’ve had a good week’s training this week, the boys are really up for it,” said Logan.

“We had a session on Monday, an away day on Wednesday and last night we trained with Dromore Rugby Club. We’re feeling positive.”

Captain Max Brush is the only player dropping out due to injury, meaning full-back Nathan Hook will go to fly-half and Reuben Copes will start at 15.

Campbell College entered this year’s tournament carrying some decent form and were the most dominant side in the fourth round as they easily accounted for Down High 40-7.

Expect the likes of Zac Solomon, Joe Hopes, Cameron Hillis and Matthew Booth to be the ones at the forefront of their bid for silverware.

VERDICT: Campbell College Belfast

Sullivan Upper v RBAI: 10.45am

Improving each week is the key for RBAI to picking up Schools’ Cup success, according to director of rugby Jamie Kirk, as they prepare to travel to Sullivan Upper tomorrow.

“We’re just trying to build on the momentum from the last match. We feel like we’ve turned a corner since Christmas in terms of learning and developing, so hopefully this weekend we can improve again,” said Kirk.

RBAI will have a couple of players returning to their team but will also look to back-rows Daniel Moore and Bryn Ward, who had big games in the previous round against Omagh Academy, as did exciting winger Jamie Beattie.

Sullivan are forced into a couple of changes due to injuries but will still be able to call upon a strong team to combat their visitors, including the likes of No.8 Rory Carson and captain Matthew Latimer at scrum-half.

“This is the stage of the tournament we want to be in and playing Inst at home, it doesn’t get much better,” said Sullivan head coach Adam Craig.

VERDICT: Royal Belfast Academical Institution

Wallace High School v Ballymena Academy: 10.45am

Wallace High head coach Derek Suffern knows his side will have to be on top form to beat Ballymena Academy in what looks to be the pick of the last-eight ties after losing to them just before the turn of the year.

“The boys are looking forward to another home draw, that was one of the biggest things that we looked to get after beating Dungannon,” said Suffern.

“We’ve had a couple of games against Ballymena, one at the start of the season which didn’t really count for anything and one at Christmas which Ballymena won but it was tight enough. We’re expecting the same again this weekend and we’ll have to be at our best to win.”

Once again Wallace will look to loosehead prop Cameron Doak, the brother of Ulster scrum-half Nathan, as one of their key figures, with Matthew Crowe, Charlie Beattie and fly-half Matthew Halliday vital in their bid for victory.

Ballymena’s key dangers will come from Callum Mustoe, Jacob Lennox and Tristan Ferguson, the latter of whom kicked them to victory in the fourth round against Coleraine.