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TopMarque Sports who are the Official UK Distributor for Rugbytech Team Wear have produced a stylish range of clothing for all supporters of Portora. Current students and Portora Old Boys from around the world can now purchase on line by clicking onto the TopMarque website link above . Rugbytech is the Official supplier to Premiership Rugby Clubs London Irish RFC and Gloucester RFC.

Portora Rugby Club

 125th Anniversary 1884-2009 

Portora Royal School

Derrygonnelly Road

Enniskillen BT74 7HA

Co Fermanagh

Northern Ireland

028 66 322 658

Mr Damien Dempster

Head of P.E

ddempster018@portora.enniskillen.ni.sch.uk

School Colours Black & Gold

Rugby Reports Season 2009-2010

The rugby season is up and running at Portora. The school played Foyle & LondonderryCollege in the opening weekend of fixtures with mixed results. The U13’s had an outstanding win 56-0. Ryan Irwin, Christopher Irvine, Patrick Mulligan and Captain Jamie Gibson all scoring tries. The U14’s struggled against a huge Foyle pack but remained committed throughout the game.

The Med XV lost 24-14 but this was an excellent effort considering the same team beat them by twice as much last year. The Med XV under new Coaches Phil Marshall and Stewart Wilson look to be developing into a good team this season. They have been training very hard as a squad and results from their efforts should start to show.

The 2^nd XV had a very good win against Foyle 14-0 and the 1^st XV started poorly with a 25-3 loss. The 1sts will have been very disappointed with their opening efforts however a slightly different approach this season with far less pre season work than previous years meaning there is quite a lot of room for improvement. With up to seven players of 1^st XV standard out injured the team has huge potential to develop into a serious team this year.

A far better display last Saturday from the 1^st XV against Enniskillen U19’s will have given the squad some much needed confidence. Portora won 45-7 with an excellent display of open attacking rugby. James Gormley dominated the mid field scoring three tries. Rodney Blair in his first season of senior rugby at Portora also dominated the lineout. Richard Ogle playing hooker had an outstanding match playing effectively as a fourth back rower. Alex Stephens was very dangerous in open play until he succumbed to a groin injury. Last year the Portora 1^st XV whilst matching most schools with an abrasive and driven forward pack struggled to score points through the backs. This season they appear to possess a very dangerous backline with players like John McKenzie starting to really develop and young guns in James Ferguson and Jonathon Magwood starting to shine and grow in confidence with every match.

Portora Rugby Master Mr Ferguson “ I thought Enniskillen were very committed and showed a great attitude considering it was their first competitive hit out of the season, however I was really pleased with our boys approach particularly their off loading in contact and desire to shift and attack the space. Our performance next weekend against Armagh will be very important to us as a team”.

The 2^nd XV which is effectively a Portora U16 team lost 32-5 to an Enniskillen U17 team that was committed to avenging a defeat against the 2^nd XV from two weeks ago. Unfortunately Portora had several late withdrawals that effected the team cohesion. This weekend Portora play Royal School Armagh with the Junior Teams at home and the Senior Squad travelling to Armagh. Kick Off for all matches is 10.30am.

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The rugby players of Portora have responded to the challenge to produce improved performances. Last week the club won every match against local rivals OmaghAcademy. The U13’s continued their undefeated season and the U14 have had an excellent victory 39-5. Jordan Hylton, Matthew Irwin and Matthew Coalter all scored outstanding individual first half tries. In the second half Portora poured on the pressure with Hylton scoring his second and also tries to Cameron Swan and Joe Roberts. It was a fairly confrontational match with no quarter given and players from both sides sin-binned late in the match. Individually great performances were produced; the next step for this young group is to produce a good team performance.

The Med XV having a bye against BanbridgeAcademy the previous weekend was very keen to turn out against OmaghAcademy. In a very physical and robust match Portora absorbed a lot of early pressure from the Omagh forward pack which resulted in a try through the Omagh winger in the right hand corner. The try was converted for a 7 nil lead. Portora had been guilty of sitting back and not attacking their opponent, being reactive rather than proactive with their initial approaches to the contest.

That early try from Omagh seemed to act as a spur to Portora who from that point on came into the match and dominated possession and field position. The Portora forwards really started to work hard delivering good quick ruck ball and time and again punching the ball forward over the Omagh gain line. Portora dominated most aspects of play for the remainder of the match scoring two impressive tries to run out winners 12-7.

The 2^nd XV defeated Omagh 50-Nil in a very powerful display of running rugby. The front row of Sargaison, Foster and Trimble all scored tries as they responded to the challenges put to them by the Portora Coaching Staff. The 1^st XV had perhaps its best win of the season. On the back of a very lopsided penalty count the 1sts came from behind 7-11 at halftime to win 17-13 at fulltime. This was three wins in a row for the team having beaten Banbridge and Portadown the previous week. Simon McIlveen and Adam Farrell were given the opportunity to start in the Portora front row and both had outstanding debuts. Captain James Brady also played his first full match for over a year and was a very welcome sight for his team mates.

The Omagh win was built on the back of some outstanding rucking and driving. Good old fashioned hard work and honesty. Omagh consistently produce a strong forward pack and had not lost a fixture this season until they met Portora. It was a very encouraging sight to see the Portora pack knuckle down and grind over the Omagh eight. The slick Portora backline looked sharp with James Gormley returning after a bout of flu. Portora Coach Mr Ferguson “We as a group are very happy with the progress made in the first month of the season. September was all about building a base. Good strong building blocks are in place for us to move forward. Strong competition is emerging for places in the squad which will only bring out the best and show us who really wants to wear the black jersey. October will be all about developing strength and power and sharpening our attack. That means working on the technical aspects of our scrum, lineout and backs play. It really is very exciting because we haven’t even started to refine our raw product yet and what we have at the moment looks very good”.

However, against Down HS last Saturday the 1sts and Med XV came back to earth with a thud as both sides produced avarage performances and came out on the wrong end of the score board. The Med XV lacked support in numbers from its own squad and will be disappointed with their one step forward one step back situation. This is a good young team but they must start doing the hard work. Rugby is not an easy game; otherwise everyone would play it. The hard work and commitment to succeed is the dedication to show up at every training session. The 1^st XV contained 14 changes from the team that played Omagh mid week. This was a future Portora 1^st XV but one that gifted Down HS two tries and put themselves under pressure time and again. For a young side under prepared they competed well until the final whistle which was very encouraging. Having now had a taste of 1^st XV rugby these players should be hungry to perform the next time they get the opportunity. Portora has perhaps its biggest match of the season next Saturday at home against Dungannon. The following Saturday the 1^st XV will play English School Hereford. Kick Off for both matches is 10.30am.

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Portora Rugby Report

Portora v Dungannon

Sat 17^th October

The mist lifted slowly on a cool Saturday morning to make way for the fourth match of the season for Portora’s U13 side. The opposition had a few sizeable players, one of whom broke through early after the kick off to give Dungannon the lead. Paddy Mulligan and Nathan Aiken helped contain further attacks with effective tackles, maintaining this attitude throughout the game. Portora’s rucking game also started to function, producing turnover ball and a spell of pressure with a maul gaining valuable territory up field. From ruck 5 metres out, Captain Jamie Gibson picked and drove to bring the score back to 7-5.

            Marcus Crawford made good ground with a couple of runs reminiscent of his similarly named centre colleague, and the team offloaded well in the tackle and from the ground. The defence was, however, breached once more before half-time by another big Dungannon forward, leaving the score at 14-5. Substitute Sam Monaghan was brought on at half-time at full-back, with Simon Barton moving to James Balmer’s position at scrum-half. Despite being new to this role, Sam tracked the play well and made several strong tackles to help hold back Dungannon’s advances. Ryan Irwin and Philip Simpson made significant runs; with the latter also impressing in his commitment at rucks, but it was Dungannon who scored again after a penalty close to the try line.

            With the score now at 21-5, a Portora sequence of play saw the ball worked to the left wing where Ryan Irwin pinned his ears back to cut through the Dungannon defence and score beneath the posts. Adam Lendrum made no mistake with the conversion, with the score at 21-12 a Christopher Irvine interception looked like it might bring Portora within striking distance. With enough Dungannon numbers back to cover, however, Christopher’s good hands went unrewarded on the board. Jamie McKane took the ball forward well at close quarters and second rows Richard Armstrong and Jordan Gregory were part of a scrum which at times caused problems for the opposition. Jocelyn Madigan was a willing tackler, getting his man to ground one way or another every time, and Alistair Crawford added to the team’s attacking options in the middle of the field. It was, however, a Dungannon break from half-way that brought the next points, and a final 7 points were added near the end as the mist descended on Portora’s hopes of victory. Despite their first loss, however, the players showed plenty to build on with a quality of play that has been evident at times in all their matches this season. Final score: PRS 12 - RSD 35.

            The Portora U14’s had a very poor result going down 52-5. The very first requirement is to attend Monday’s Strength & Conditioning sessions. The Med XV responded very well to an embarrassing mid week defeat to an Enniskillen U15 team who were only playing their first fixture of the year. Whilst the final score of 12 -7 favoured Dungannon it was perhaps the best team performance of the year by this Portora U15 side. Travelling with only 15 players and no reserves the side played with a cohesion and desire that was completely the reverse from their previous match. Every match from now on should be viewed as a learning experience. This team’s next test is to play one of the best U15 sides in Ireland when they visit CastleknockSchool in Dublin in two weeks time.

Dungannon may have won the junior matches but Portora won the day with all the senior fixtures. Gareth Hilliard led the mighty 3^rd XV to a massive 58-10 triumph preparing this team well for when they host Castleknock after the mid term break. It was a very mature performance by a side that has just been formed. There are nine more fixtures for this side to play before their Cup campaign in mid January starts. The 2^nd XV won 5 nil but perhaps should have won by a similar score line to the thirds. Drop ball was a large feature of this match which stifled most attacking opportunities. The score line doesn’t reflect the Portora dominance in this match particularly the forwards display.

The match of the day was most definitely the 1^st XV game. This was perhaps the best performance of the season so far by this vastly improving Portora team. The first 35 minutes of play was outstanding from both schools. Dungannon attacked early missing with a penalty attempt. Portora then responded with 20 minutes of sublime controlled rugby. Dominating set piece and ruck Portora attacked twice from around half way generating quick phase ball and being very direct punching through the Dungannon tackle line. Number 8 Matthew Tanswell crashed over first near the goal posts after six phases of play that stretched Dungannon twice from one side of the field to the other. Fullback James Gormley converted and within five minutes he himself dived over to score after another superb set of attacking phases. Out half James Ferguson controlled the match beautifully, growing as a player and displaying a maturity with every match. Dungannon to their credit did not lie down and Portora will have to learn some lessons about consistency because the last 15 minutes of the first half belonged to Dungannon.

They scored twice as Portora took the foot off the gas sitting back rather than demonstrating ruthlessness to their play. Something this team will develop. Dungannon converted one of the tries and had a successful penalty attempt to make the scores 15-14 in their favour at half time.

            From the start of the second half the Portora pack which had dominated the lineout and scrum took its play up several levels. The front row of Simon McIlveen, Richard Ogle and Adam Farrell bullied the Dungannon pack and stamped their authority on the match through a very high work rate. Neil Allen and Graham Rutherford joined Tanswell in having tremendous effect in the loose and working tirelessly in defence. It was the teams’ defensive efforts that showed that this group has enormous potential. Everytime Dungannon mounted an attack Portora seemed to swarm in numbers, at least three consistently in the tackle and driving the ball carrier backwards; often generating turn over ball. The final score line of 24-15 after a McIlveen try and another Gormley penalty was not an indication of the control and dominance that Portora displayed in the second half. It was a real team performance. At least two more tries which could have taken the score to near 40 points went astray which should remind this side that whilst it was a great win the performance could have been even better. This Saturday the 1^st XV play HerefordCathedralSchool from Hertfordshire at 10.30am. Hereford is a very good 1^st XV and will provide a very stern test for this developing Portora side.

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Ulster Schools Cup 2^nd Round Match Report

Portora 1^st XV

V

Carrickfergus Grammar 1^st XV

Saturday 16^th January 2010

Portora Royal School             25

Carrickfergus Grammar          0

The first match of any Schools Cup campaign always brings its fair share of excitement and nerves for all the players involved. This was most evident on Portora’s rugby pitches at Castle Lane last Saturday morning as Portora and Carrickfergus lined up to do battle in the 2^nd Round of the Ulster Schools Cup. The Portora 1^st XV have had a very strong season so far producing excellent wins against  Foyle & Londonderry College, Portadown College, Omagh Academy, Sligo Grammar, Banbridge Academy and Royal School Dungannon. However with the recent heavy snow and frosts leading to the cancellation of several practice matches and training sessions an air of nervous tension preceded this game.

Portora approached and in fact started the match gradually and warily. Portora No. 8 Matthew Tanswell collected the ball from the kick off and ran it back towards the Carrickfergus pack and was promptly smashed by the opposition’s captain and tighthead prop Jonathan McIlwaine. This impact however left the Carrickfergus man on the ground for several minutes before he and play could continue. Portora then spent the remainder of the first 10 minutes of the match on the back foot defending. The first incursion by Portora into the Carrickfergus half resulted in a penalty for a ruck infringement and outside centre James Gormley converted from just over 40 meters to give Portora a 3 nil lead.

The Portora pack then started to awake with Captain James Brady stealing two early lineout throws. The turning point in the first half came when Carrickfergus attempted to move the ball across their backline inside the Portora half. Portora’s midfield of Gormley and John McKenzie herded the Carrickfergus ball carrier and dumped him backwards. This was followed by some powerful counter rucking from the Portora backrow of Allen, Rutherford and Tanswell, turning the ball over and enabling scrumhalf Rory Gibson to shovel the ball out to the left wing Andrew Morrison who showed an amazing turn of speed running away from the cover defence from 45 meters out to score in the left hand corner. Gormley missed the conversion from wide out and Portora lead 8 Nil.

Playing with renewed confidence Portora now started to attack Carrickfergus at every opportunity. Outhalf James Ferguson playing in his first Schools Cup match showed lovely deception and soft hands to put Gormley through a hole off a clever backline move just inside Portora’s half. The outside centre charged deep into the Carrickfergus half drawing the fullback and sending a 15 meter pass across to the right wing Stephen Patterson. Patterson still had to evade the cover defence but was ruled held up in the far right-hand corner. Portora then applied the blow torch of pressure and shortly after received a scrum feed 5 meters out and 15 meters in from touch. No.8 Tanswell picked up from the base of the scrum drawing the Carrickfergus flanker and passing to scrumhalf Gibson who dived over for a try in the corner. Gormley again missed the conversion and Portora lead 13 Nil at halftime.

In the second half Portora started to dominate field position and possession. The lineout however continued to miss fire and credit should be given to the Carrickfergus second rower Peter Stewart who stole several Portora throws and thwarted Portora’s attempts to kick start attacking moves. The major issue for Portora in the lineout seemed to be a sluggishness of foot speed and movement by the jumpers and lifters. Poor distribution from the set piece and breakdown also hindered some attacking opportunities. Although in general play the scrumhalf Gibson had a very strong game.

Midway through the second half Portora started to fire on all cylinders and produced several breakaway opportunities from deep within their half. Expansive counter attacking rugby moving the ball wide and sweeping down field. This was exciting for the supporters to watch with the Portora outside backs really having a go. The final execution wasn’t poor but wasn’t as precise as they will hope for in the coming matches. One such move again starting from within their own half resulted in some lovely inter play amongst the Portora backs to send inside centre McKenzie down the right-hand flank from 30 meters out to score. This time Gormley converted to give Portora a comfortable 20 Nil lead.  Outhalf Ferguson showed a exquisite rugby brain when he moved into the base of the ruck to retrieve a ball and then cleverly spotted the Carrickfergus fullback out of position and chipped over the defensive line but was unable to regather the ball at the crucial moment on the try line as he attempted to dive over. Brady and fellow second row Rodney Blair where Yellow carded within a couple of minutes of each other which meant Portora competed with only 13 men for sometime in the second half. This only added to the tension for the supporters and coaching staff. Portora used five players from their bench replacing the hardworking Allen and Rutherford with Phillip Dickie and Nathan McCrae who both contributed well in the second half. The young front rowers of Simon McIlveen and Adam Farrell also enjoyed debuts late in the match.

Carrickfergus threw all caution to the wind very late in the match and attempted to run out of their own 22. They kicked the ball down field to winger Morrison who caught the kick and shifted the ball infield to fullback Scott Burrell who ran towards the approaching defensive line and dabbed a lovely kick over their heads into the far right corner where the Portora players again smashed the ruck regaining possession. Quick hands from right to left put the ball into Gormley’s hands and the outside centre ran in for the teams’ fourth try of the match. He missed the conversion and the referee blew for fulltime 25 Nil to Portora. This Portora team had not played for several weeks and they produced at times a rusty performance at set piece time. However the passing in general play was very crisp and the defence was perhaps the outstanding aspect of the match. Carrickfergus where never allowed to make a line break and their outhalf and midfield where consistently put under pressure. They simply where not allowed to get on the front foot because of Portora’s belligerent defensive attitude. The Portora pack will have benefited greatly from this hit out and will be the better for it in their next match. The Portora back line had a wonderful first Cup match and will gain a huge amount of confidence from this performance. Many good rugby judges have spoken about this seasons Portora pack but on Saturday last we saw a very good Portora backline join in. Perhaps now is the time to start talking about a very good Portora Team. It is one match at a time for this group of players and their next test is this Saturday as Portora play Down High School at home in the 3^rd Round of the Ulster Schools Cup.