Sullivan Upper chasing Schools' Cup history with Adam Craig happy to 'embrace' challenge

​The Holywood school lost the 2014 St Patrick’s Day decider 27-12 to Methody and the sides will clash again in this year’s quarter-final at Pirrie Park this morning.

With a healthy age-grade representation in the squad and comprehensive 41-3 win over Larne in the previous round, coach Adam Craig knows his side won’t be over-awed going to the most successful school in the competition’s history.

“It’s one game at a time and if you are going to try and win it you are going to have to beat teams of this calibre,” said Craig. “So we are excited to go and take them on and challenge them in their own park.

“There is no nicer pitch to go to and we are very excited about, hopefully, turning them over there.”

Craig and his squad aren’t feeling any added weight off Sullivan’s record in the competition.

“I think we embrace it to be honest,” he said. “It is something that we talk about.

"And we’d love this group to be the first to win the Schools’ Cup for the school.

“We have been chasing that for a few years now.

"And, in terms of teams that we have been knocked out by, you would consider them in the top-end schools.

“We’re not far off and we are excited about the challenge of going one further and getting to the semi-final and we’ll take it from there.

“We just try to look after ourselves and work on the weakness that we have and that we can get better at and make sure that are strengths are firing for us.

“There is a great group of boys there, they are really dedicated and working hard, they are really proud to represent the school.

“The school is really proud of how they conduct themselves on and off the pitch.

"And it is just about trying to get better.”

Craig was satisfied with how his team negotiated the potential banana skin of Larne in their first hit out in the competition.

“I think we were a bit nervous in the first half and probably showed it a little bit in the way we played,” he said. “In the second half it was certainly nice to see us play some good rugby and moving the ball to the edge.

“We picked up a few nice scores and it is trying to get that first hit out in the cup and get going.

"We have the quarter-final coming up and we’re excited about that too.”

The battle against Methody could come down to who handles the pressure on the day and Sullivan have plenty of experience in their ranks.

“There are a few lads that have played age-grade...Harry McKeown played for the Irish Schools and clubs last year,” he said. “This year we have Harry Thallan starting for Ulster Schools, Jack Law and Jake Scott involved as well...so there are four or five dotted around there.

“Nathan Noble is a really exciting prospect and he can play right across the front row.

"There is a good blend and a lot of talent.

“There is sort-of two good year groups coming through together, which is exciting.”