School Games
School Games 1ST XV
“The key is not the will to win. Everybody has that. It is the will to prepare to win that is important” -Bobby knight Rugby for the 1st XV squad began mid-July with players dedicating time in their summer holidays to strength and conditioning training. Saturday morning fixtures began with the annual Ian Graham Trophy tournament at Grosvenor Grammar School. In the group stages there was opportunity to play against Rainey Endowed and Wesley College Dublin. The team won both games, showing great heart, especially against Wesley giving an opportunity to play in the final against Banbridge Academy in the final. The team played very well in the final winning 21-0. This was to be an excellent start to the season with the Ian Graham Trophy returning to BRA. Traditionally, the fixtures on the run into half term are a great challenge. Playing schools of such a high pedigree gives an excellent measure of where the team is at, moving into
the new season. The game against Ballyclare High School was played on a beautiful morning at Roughfort. This was a very tight game. With BRA missing several key players, Ballyclare recorded a victory winning 12-11. The following week, a squad game was played against Limavady Grammar school with BRA winning convincingly. In the fixture against Methodist College, players showed resilience throughout the game; however, Methody won 33-13. The team then had a very good performance against Sullivan Upper School; however, frustratingly, we lost 26-16. Following this, there was a game against Wallace High School. Again, some aspects of the game were very good; however, Wallace recorded a 45-15 victory. The next game against Ballymena Academy was a game where it was felt a win could have been recorded. The game was extremely close with two very even teams battling for a much needed victory. BRA controlled much of the game leading 8-7 into the last play of the game. Ballymena; however, managed to secure a penalty which, in turn, they converted to win 10-8. This was a very difficult defeat! Players were undoubtedly very disappointed; however, they needed to get over the disappointment quickly…the incoming week posed an exciting and fantastic challenge! Methodist College were holding a 150th Anniversary tournament which we were very fortunate to be invited to. The tournament 69
