Schools' Cup holders RBAI secure final spot with 'strong start' behind defeat of Wallace

The Belfast city centre school scored four tries in the opening 35 minutes to lead 26-3 at the interval and although the Lisburn side improved after the break Inst always looked comfortable.

“I think to be honest it's a reflection of the respect that the boys have for Wallace, the intensity we started the game at,” said RBAI coach Jamie Kirk. “We knew we were coming up against a strong side and certainly in December they got the better of us. That was a focus for the boys going in and they knew that they had to get that strong start.

“Whilst there were some strong performances in the first half, we certainly feel that there's lots to improve on in that second half. The pack certainly understood the challenge at hand, that they'd be coming up against an explosive pack. A couple of players in particular wanted to show they were putting out a statement.”

Kirk hailed the Kingspan Stadium surface as “it certainly allowed for attacking rugby and the conditions did as well”.

Holders Inst had built up a commanding half-time lead but lost the second 17-7 and Kirk knows that getting a complete performance is a work-on for the final.

“It's difficult at half-time when you've had that strong performance, we talked about how every team will have their purple patch and it would be naive to think that while it was a brilliant first-half performance it was all going to be easy in the second half,” he said. “Wallace are a really good side and that certainly was never going to be the case...what we spoke about was ensuring that they might have a patch where they're on top but the really good teams can limit those spells.

“I thought we did do that at times and we made sure we got on the scoresheet in the middle of that second half and that probably killed the momentum for them. We'll review, see what was good, see how we make that better...certainly there are areas where we think we're better than what we showed.

“That review will inform the preview and obviously who we're playing will be a factor too. It's an exciting challenge over the next couple of weeks, how much better can we get?”

Kirk has three weeks to prep his team for the final.

“Getting that preparation right is important, our review,” he said. “It would be naive to go straight to the opposition, we'll start with ourselves, there's lots that was pleasing and lots we need to work on. We'll make sure we get that right and that will inform the areas that we want to go after in the final.

"Probably in that middle part we turn the attention to the opposition, we'll have an idea of who we're playing, their strengths and combining the areas that we want to work on, what we expect from the opposition (to) lead us into that final build-up.”

A Lewis Stevenson penalty gave Wallace an early lead but Inst hit back with four tries - full back Josh Gibson scoring twice as prop Blake McClean and winger Alex Place also crossed.

Place added three conversions.

Josh Geddis got Wallace’s first try before Gibson completed his hat trick.

Daniel Macklin-Copeland and Geddis got late tries for the Lisburn school.

RBAI: (15-9) Joshua Gibson; Alex Place, Fraser Cunningham (captain), Charlie O'Connor, James Kerr; Charlie Gray, Callum Soper; (1-8) Zak Molyneaux, Euan Paterson, Blake McClean; Loughlin Sweeney, Milo Carter; Lorcan Donnelly, James Clark, Adam Boyd.

Replacements: Ross Dillon, Reagan Lath Amou, Rory O'Connor, Scott McElhinney, Patrick McEvoy, Luke Gibson, Ben McCausland, Connor Patton.

WALLACE HIGH: (15-9) Daniel Wilson; Matthew Dickson, William Sproule, Quinn Armstrong, Josh Geddis; Lewis Stevenson, Alex Stevenson; (1-8) James Gould, Michael McCavery, Rio McDonagh; Harry Lightbody, Callum Johns; Ben Moore, Jon Rodgers (captain), Sam Warwick.

Replacements: James Furphy, Daniel Macklin-Copeland, Ollie Fitzsimmons, Ben Cairns, Rhys Ewing, Daniel Hearne, Carter Thompson, Corey Dawson-Stirling.

Referee: P.McClure.