SCHOOLS' CUP: Wells family ties add extra layer to Campbell semi-final clash with Methody

“It is quite unusual having such a long time, it has worked out that nearly just shy of a month,” said McMaster. “It has given us a lot of opportunity to look into Methody and get our homework done.

“We know what they will bring to the table, so it is about making sure we get fully prepared for the quality they are going to bring."

Methody and Campbell stand as two of the three most successful teams in Schools’ Cup history so no extra motivation needed.

But this year is different.

The Campbell team contains James and Harry Wells while dad Nicky is the Methody coach.

“Any time that Campbell play Methody it is huge, over the last number of years we have been lucky enough to play each other in semi-finals or last year in the Subsidiary Shield final,” said McMaster. “I have also spoken before about the enormity of the occasion for Nick, James and Harry Wells, obviously having that connection between Methody and Campbell is pretty special for them.

“It adds that extra bit of motivation for both sides of the family...father and sons, I am definitely looking forward to that.

“We actually played each other out in Portugal at the campus just prior to Christmas, we had a great game out there and it was pretty tit for tat.

“It was a physical battle but for the boys especially, just preparing it like any other fixture.

“Yes, it is a Schools’ Cup semi-final and that brings a little bit of added pressure but at the same time I think it is just about staying level for all the boys in the squad and making sure they know their detail heading into the game.”

Campbell have won back-to-back Subsidiary Shields in the last two seasons.

“While that was great, this year was definitely a goal of ours to progress in the actual cup competition itself,” he said. “I think having the experience of boys in our squad having played inter-pro games for Ulster Schools at Ravenhill and Ulster under 19s over the last number of years, combined with some of the guys just getting experience playing for school in the Shield final, all definitely helps.

“There is no doubt about it that the 4G pitch has an impact on that as well, it is a faster game, you need to look after the ball on the ground a little bit better, the way the ball bounces in terms of your kicking game is going to change as well...so all those things I think tie into hopefully making a great spectacle against Methody.”

Campbell have seen off BRA and Regent House to make the last four.

“I think the first game is two nervous teams...whenever we went up to Roughfort, we probably didn't play as well as we wanted to but we had enough in the tank to get the job done that day,” he said. “I was pleased with our performance, especially in the second half against Regent.

"I thought we really started to click and we showed some good bravery in phase and set-piece attack.

“I think that is definitely something we are going to hone in on...for Methody, continuing to be brave.

“Yes, set-piece is paramount when it comes to Schools’ Cup games and we will go very hard at that...but at the same time I think continuing to be brave with the ball is something we have gone hard at recently and I am happy with.”

Nicky Wells is hoping to mastermind Methody’s historic 38th Schools’ Cup victory but he knows he won’t have the support of his family.

Methody last won the tournament in 2022 – beating Campbell in the decider – and the sides met in the Subsidiary Shield last year.

“I think it's fair enough to realise that nobody's really in my corner in the house, but that's just one of those things,” joked Nicky when discussing his sons lining out for the opposition. “It's funny, suddenly the iPads and the MacBooks...they’re starting to get hidden a lot more, suddenly just all shut-up shop.

“I've had an opportunity to watch them quite a bit this season but that's not to say that I have any great expertise on Campbell.

"If you go there as a father and you watch your two sons play, you don't necessarily watch what Campbell are doing from a technical or a tactical point of view.

"But they've picked up results, they've won a lot of games.

“From my own two boys' point of view, they've got a lot of resilience about them, they look like they're a very together group.

“They're well-coached, they're well-organised, they'll be a big challenge on the 4G out there.”

For Methody to go four years without winning a Schools’ Cup is a long time.

“First of all, it's nice to be back there, we’ve had a couple of very ordinary years by our standards and that doesn't mean any lack of effort from the players the past two years,” he said. “We just maybe didn't have that quality or the confidence to really step up to this stage of the competition.

“So, it's good to be there, but unfortunately the other two (most successful schools...Campbell and RBAI) are there with us - and Ballymena Academy - the competition to get into that final is seriously strong.

“I think it's too easy to say it ebbs and flows, we've had to be very proactive and look at what we're doing down at the junior end...maybe there was a wee bit too much chopping and changing of staff.

“We feel that we've stabilised the whole junior side of things and results are getting better.

“Ultimately, you need to be contending for Medallion Shields to then really contend for Schools' Cups...that's where Inst are in a bit of a privileged position at the moment, they've got a senior squad there with three Medallion Shield-winning teams and that's hard to deal with.

“We're extremely happy with the way that we've bounced back from last season especially, which was extremely disappointing.”

Methody have reached the last four with two wins on the road.

“Two away games bring their own problems, I was very pleased with the Friends performance, Rainey were well-prepared, well-coached, they offered a different challenge to us than maybe the previous round,” said Wells. “To be honest, it's just good to get through two away fixtures, especially with the weather that we've had recently.

“Maybe that's where Leinster schools have it on the money, where they're into neutral venues on a 4G from the quarter-finals onwards, something we maybe need to look at...maybe if I'd had two home games, I'd be speaking differently.

“Campbell will bring a real threat out behind, they'll play with width and they'll have two half-backs who, if we're not on the game, can kick us all over Ravenhill.

“They'll have a pack that can win them more than enough balls, we need to be on the money and we need to get it right on the day.

“Once you get to the semi-final stage, if you don't get it right then you can be in for an awful afternoon.

“Traditionally, we'll always have it state that we're a set-piece side, we'll back our maul, we'll back ourselves up front...but we can play rugby if we get the opportunity, we certainly will play rugby.”