Not surprisingly, the Irish schools' team to play England in a Triple Crown decider in Stourbridge, Wolverhampton, on Saturday is unchanged from that which defeated Scotland by 49-0 and Wales by 13-6.
The Irish boys will again be led by the Royal School Dungannon open-side flanker Andrew Hughes as they seek to emulate the side of two years ago by winning the triple crown. England themselves are also bidding for a Triple Crown, having beaten Scotland by 56-5 and Wales by 13-12, which suggests a close encounter on Saturday.
Maintaining the feel good factor in Irish under-age rugby of recent times, St Mary's College were bestowed with accolades at the end of the Dubai Festival of Rugby over the weekend when the Rathmines schools represented Ireland.
After drawing 13-13 with Southport School of Australia, losing 41-6 to Auckland College of New Zealand, and beating both Greys College of South Africa by 15-10 and Kelvinside Academy of Scotland, St Mary's were honoured at the festival's closing banquet as "the most sporting team, on and off the pitch" as well as "the most attractive side to watch".
Ireland Schools' XV: G Darcy (Clongowes Wood College); J Norton (St Mary's College), K Lewis (St Mary's College), R Miliken (Bangor Grammar), D McCombe (Royal Belfast AI); A Dunne (Belvedere College), D Spence (Wallace High School); N Brady (Royal School Dungannon), G Ryan (Clongowes Wood College), N Treston (Blackrock College), D Dillon (Clongowes Wood College), P O'Connell (Ard Scoil Ris), A Hickey (CBC Cork), D O'Loughlin (Cistercian College Roscrea), A Hughes (Royal School Dungannon, capt). Replacements: N Beggs (Campbell College), G Duffy (Cistercian College, Roscrea), S Keogh (St Michael's College), A Emerson (Portora Royal School), N O'Connor (Clongowes Wood College), R Henson (St Mary's College), R McGrath (CBC Cork).
