Collective effort imperative for Schools’ Cup success against RBAI, says Campbell College coach Jonny Cupitt

Campbell will go into the St Patrick’s Day final as slight favourites after their impressive 31-10 semi-final victory over Methody but both sides are littered with big game players.

Cupitt said: “This particular year group within Ulster is very strong and I think within the two teams in the final there are potentially two or three professional players, with the likes of (Jacob) Boyd, (Bryn) Ward, (Flynn) Longstaff and (Lucas) Kenny, which is very exciting for Ulster.

"But I think with regards to review and preparation those guys get all the hype when actually the final itself will come down to other aspects of the game, other individuals and other guys who step up.

“There will be good head-to-heads and good mini battles, however I think it will come down to both teams’ collective benches as well and the impact that they have.”

Cupitt has no qualms about his star players stepping up in the final.

“Those guys are used to a bit of hype around them and they ignore the hype,” he continued.

“These guys of course want to become professional players but what they want more than anything is to win a Schools’ Cup.

“That’s all they want, to win a Schools’ Cup with their best mates as it is something that they have worked seven years extremely hard for.”

While the semi-final win over Methody was a sit up and take notice moment, Cupitt knows it will mean nothing if Campbell don’t bring the trophy back to East Belfast.

“The boys realise the game went our way and the second half was strong, but they also know you can’t get carried away by one performance. They are put back in their place, they are a humble group, they know that game has now gone.

“Of course they take confidence from it but the slate is wiped clean and we are completely focused on Inst and our preparations for that.

“There will never be any arrogance or complacency in the group, as a result they enjoyed that process but now it is all (about the) final.

“These guys have been in a Medallion Shield final and won that; there are provincial players, national players and big players in both teams who have been in this type of cup environment before and their experiences and knowledge within that are vital for guys coming in.”

Cupitt is realistic enough to know no side will dominate a final for the whole 70 minutes.

“In these cup games and particularly at the latter stages, you are always going to have phases or blocks of the game where you are not going to see the ball and it is just being able to cope with that,” he said.

“The mistakes you make you just reset and get ready to go again, you work in your blocks of five minutes or 10 minutes.

“It is just a matter of getting players into the game early and that is something we’re pushing, you don’t want the game to be at half-time and you haven’t had an influence.”