28 December 2019
Whether you blame the early morning bus journey or an over-indulgence during the festivities, there is no denying that ERGS were slow out of the blocks at Osbourne Gardens when they took on Royal Belfast Academical Institution in their last match of 2019. More commonly known as “Inst”, the Belfast school boasts an enviable record having won 3 out of the last 5 Danske Bank Ulster Schools Cup Finals. ERGS, in their previous guise of Portora Royal, last won a School’s Cup in 1941.
Inst received the ball from the kick-off and using their strong pack they retained the ball for a full 5 minutes, driving up to the Enniskillen line and sucking in defenders before throwing the ball wide to their right wing who dived over in the corner. The conversion was missed but Inst had demonstrated, very quickly, why they are one of the Province’s top teams.
They had also given ERGS a harsh wake-up call, but one which they responded to equally quickly. From a scrum on the visitor’s 22m line their no.8, Callum Smyton, broke to the blindside and fed his scrum half, Matty Bothwell. Bothwell took a tremendous hit from the Inst no. 8 but managed to get the ball to Sam Milligan on the wing. Milligan neatly stepped outside his opposite number and off-loaded back inside to the supporting Smyton. Smyton was tackled a couple of metres short of the try line but attempted to pop the ball up to his ever-present back row partner, David Stinson. Stinson had only to catch the ball and fall over the try line but the pass was just too low. ERGS had two more clear try scoring opportunities which failed due to handling mistakes before they finally crossed the whitewash. In a replica of the Inst score they rucked the ball up to the Inst try line, drawing in defenders before flashing the ball wide to Milligan on the wing to dive over. Out half, Eddie Keys, drove a low conversion from the touch line to put Enniskillen 2 points ahead.
A few minutes later Inst gifted Enniskillen a much simpler try. Hooker, Matthew Beatty, had driven the ball through the defensive line to set up a ruck in the middle of the park. For some strange reason Inst placed 10 players on the open side marking just three ERGS players and leaving their unfortunate left wing to cover 4 Enniskillen players on the blindside. ERGS took the opportunity with both hands when Stinson bounced the full back, who was attempting a late covering tackle, to score in the corner. Key’s conversion drifted just outside the posts.
Although Inst spent the remainder of the half in aggressive mood, Enniskillen’s defence held firm and they went into the break leading by 12 points to 5.
The second half opened with ERGS going on the attack. Powerful carries by Aaron Crawford and Michael Rooney, not their first of the day, and a snipe by Bothwell put Enniskillen on the front foot resulting in left wing, Taine Haire, squeezing in at the corner for ERGS’s third try.
Inst hit back quickly by making their way up to the visitor’s line and retaining the ball through many phases before forcing their way over for an unconverted try and a score line of 17 to 10 in ERGS’s favour. Enniskillen increased their lead with 10 minutes go when Milligan retrieved a poor relieving kick from the Inst out half. Milligan drew in two defenders before releasing outside centre, Stephen Balfour. Balfour and his captain, Robbie Mills, had formed an impenetrable midfield throughout the game smothering many Inst attacks. This was his first opportunity in space and, although he still had 35 metres to go, he made full use of it by outpacing the opposition, running around behind the posts and giving Keys an easy conversion. With just 5 minutes to go, Inst stuck to their worthy, but unimaginative, game plan of driving up the pitch using their heavy forwards, a plan that brought them to the visitor’s try line, once again. However, they knocked on and gave ERGS a chance to clear their line and, perhaps, close out the game. Instead of kicking to touch ERGS took a controversial decision by trying to run out of defence. To some it was the decision of a confident, attack-based team, to others it may have appeared a little naive. The pass from Keys to Milligan that would have left the wing with the chance to take play up to the halfway line, or perhaps well beyond, was adjudged by the referee to be forward. The video replay might well contest that decision, but Inst were handed a scrum on the ERGS’s 5 metre line and a second chance to reduce the deficit. They took that chance with a third score through their close forward pods and a conversion by their out half.
From a comfortable 14 point lead ERGS were now facing the possibility of a converted try snatching away their hard-earned victory.
A minute after the restart, and with just 90 seconds left on the clock, they were given another chance to close out the game when the referee awarded them a penalty just inside the Inst 22m line. They refused to give up their attacking mantra and opted for a kick to the corner rather than a fairly safe 3 points. As it turned out, they failed to score from the line out and the game finished 17 points to 24 and a well-deserved away win for ERGS.
There are just 6 weeks to go to the first knockout match in the last 16 of the Schools Cup and, as yet, there has been no draw. All the top teams will be shifting up a gear in terms of training schedules with a view to hitting a peak by mid-February. ERGS, by beating two of the Tier 1 teams, have shown they have the capability to go all the way in this year’s Cup. In the end it may come down to how much time and how much effort they can devote to their sport over the next 6 weeks.
For anyone wishing to watch this exciting school’s team in action they have home friendlies over the next two weekends. The first will be on Saturday, January 4th, against the runners-up in Group E, Belfast Royal Academy, and the second on January 10th against Bangor Grammar, clear winners of Group B. To add a little spice to the contest it is worth noting that Bangor are coached by Rhys Both who was, up until 12 months ago, coach to Enniskillen Royal Grammar School !
ERGS Try scorers:- Sam Milligan, David Stinson, Taine Haire, Stephen Balfour.
Conversions:- Eddie Keys (2)
