YOUR VIEWS: Should the current schools' cup format continue?
NEWS Letter rugby journalist, Richard Mulligan, asks the question whether it is time for a resit in the Schools' Cup.
It is always dangerous to take on the Ulster Schools' Committee, because like many of the governors of the game, they like to feel they are untouchable and although not always right, are never wrong.
But I am certainly not going to launch an attack on the governors of our great schools game - many are volunteers who work hard on and off the field - but instead simply touch and poke through the debate which has gone on for a number of years about the ranking system in the Ulster Schools' Cup.
Attending schools' cup games over the years, talking to coaches, parents, the players and those who just come along to observe, there has been the feeling while the ranking system employed at present works to a degree and presents opportunities to those schools who are not cup traditionalists, there is still the fear the profile which comes with the Schools' Cup has lessened.
One only has to look at the history of the competition to know that there will usually be at least one Belfast school contesting the traditional showpiece on March 17, and the other, dependent on the 'luck of the draw' could be one of those strong schools sides of that particular year or a team which has managed to miss out a tough game early on and progresses through.
It was interesting to note, that following last year's one sided final when MCB walloped Regent House 36-0 and the draw for this year's quarter-finals was made pairing four of the top ranked sides against each other, the mutterings in the background were that if the situation which occurred last year when two of the top sides were drawn to face each other in the semi-final, then there would be pressure to properly 'seed' the fourth round.
To briefly explain the ranking system, which was introduced for the 2004 tournament and reviewed again in 2006, it is based on schools results and they were then placed to enter the competition at a particular round.
The concept was good. There would be fewer mismatches early on and it also gave schools an amount of meaningful rugby to be played.
The bottom ranked teams played in a round-robin competition to earn a place in the second round, where they were joined by the third level ranked schools, with the winners progressing to the third round and being joined by the second level ranked schools and the winners progressed to the fourth round where the top ranked eight schools came into the tournament.
At each round the losers were able to go into separate tournaments to go on and contest for the Schools' Trophy, Schools' Bowl and the already established Schools' Cup.
The old open draw format did not always mean that 'big guns' avoided each other, but that was the luck of the draw.
Regent House and Ballyclare High School were the two surprise packages last year in the competition and the fact they are back in the semi-finals again this season has to say something about the way the game has been developed in both schools.
Regent House appear to have a stronger side than last year and while I certainly would not want to knock their achievements of last year, while it was fantastic for the Newtownards School and the reality of the 'romance of there cup' was borne through, for the neutral observer watching on BBC television, the final was a wet duck.
Compare the final with the semi-final between MCB and Ballymena Academy. MCB came back to snatch victory by a point in the dying minutes after what was one of the best games for some time in the history of the competition.
The ranking system does work and it has in many ways developed the game further in some schools. If you look at the progress in Larne Grammar School. Over the years they would have been regular contestants in either the Schools' Trophy or Bowl, but this season found themselves having no silverware to chase as they reached the quarter-finals before losing to Regent.
Other schools have seen a similar rise. Cambridge House, who would have been first round round robin entrants, showed significant progress over the years.
However, the luck of the draw did not favour Coleraine AI and Ballymena Academy this season, two of the to eight sides tipped to do well. They had to face fellow top ranked sides and now look certain to meet each other in the Schools' Shield final.
Finding a solution to the situation which allows the present system to work, but while avoiding the possibility of a one-sided final and the danger of the schools' game losing its profile, is always going to be difficult.
The only possible way a seeding system would work, would be place the ranked schools in round four in one hat and those third round winners in another. And perhaps ensuring the underdogs have home advantage may be seen to be the fairest way of working a seeded system at that stage.
It does allow for the best ranked sides to progress, but it also ensures that if one of the schools outside the top eight were particularly strong that year, they would still have the opportunity to progress and still enjoy the romance of the cup.
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Tuesday 29 May 2012
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