Into the groove
backline, but Grosvenor have effectively dealt with it and Gibson is fairly confident that the new players have settled into the groove.
“We’re getting boys up to speed in those positions this season,” he said of rebuilding the backline.
“But I think we’ve got our combinations right now and the attacking play in recent weeks has been pretty effective.”
Jos McConkey is a strong-running out-half, who has been converted from centre, and he brings leadership to the backline where Adam Moore has slotted in at fullback having come into the side as a fifth former.
But Grosvenor’s pack is where they have most of their notable weaponry, and skipper Ben Davies is a hugely experienced number eight who is now in his third season on the first team.
Second row Ewan Renfrew is the main target man out of touch, while hooker Isaac Skillen’s all-round play is another asset and powerful prop James McMaster is on the books for Ulster U17s.
While former Ulster U20s player Gibson heads the coaching team and specialises in back play, he has the assistance of fellow teacher Gary Hunter and Michael Smyth with the forwards, while Mitch McComb and David McLaughlin — the latter three from Grosvenor Rugby Club — deal with the seconds.
And the work being done further down the school certainly offers hope for the future with Grosvenor’s Medallion and U-14 sides having strong seasons.
The numbers playing the game throughout the school are reasonably encouraging as well with up to 160 pupils involved across the year groups.
Though they have had reasonable showings in the subsidiary cup competitions — Grosvenor lost the Bowl final to the then Portora two years ago — Gibson is hopeful that this might be a good year in the main event.
“We’d love to get to the fourth round but let’s deal with this one (Antrim) first and see how we go,” he added. Squad: Conor Webster, Matthew Gillespie, Peter Douglas, Andrew Taylor, Jordan Robb, Ryan Neill, Daniel Moorcroft, Scott McDowell, Drew Flack, Adam Speers, Christopher Thornberry, Jordan McAteer, Dylan Nelson, Ethan Williamson, Brett Flack, Reuben Boyd, Alex Wallace, Mark Grant, Peter McAdam, Joe Orr, Peter Davison, Marshall Clint, Matthew Beattie.
Coaches: Andrew Symington, Paul Heasley.
Captain: Brett Flack.
Key man: Centre Dylan Nelson has the acceleration to burst through opposing defences and score valuable tries. Squad: Jordan McElhinney, Jason Ward, Micah Stevenson, Robbie Ferguson, Jamie Ross, Lee McKee, Jakob Holst, Aaron Gallagher, Steven Dickey, Glen Carson, Robbie Simpson, Shaun-Lee Watson, John Andrews, Ewan Glenn, Ben Hamilton, Tre Britton, Jack Withers, Liam Slaughter, Jonny Farquhar, Ross Currie, Jack Logan, Matthew Le Roux. Coaches: Graham Cloke, R Gourley. Captain: Micah Stevenson.
Key man: Jonny Farquhar has moved from out-half to full-back where he can attack from deep and defend stoutly. Squad: Jon McMichael, Ben McMillan, Arshdeep Sandburg, Adam Warnock, Robbie Hunter, Joel Boucher, Xavier McCann, Ben Riley, Ethan Devlin, James Howe, John Anderson, Chris McKee, Joe McCartney, Sam McFarland, Jamie Young, Ben Carmody, James Kirk, Harry McNeill, Austin Hartman, Brandon Maxwell, Sam Thompson, Callum McCurry, Brandon McArthur, Isaac Deighton. Coach: Chris Nash.
Captain: Ben Riley.
Representative player: Xavier McCann is in the Ulster Schools’ Under 17 squad. Key man: James Howe is a real threat, being Limavady’s top try and points scorer. Squad: Ben Hunter, Luke Forsyth, James McAllister, Matthew McConaghy, Jon Woods, Ewen Mulligan, Reuben McCreery, Roy Burns, Alex Burns, Harry McDowell, Sam Lawther, Tyler Boyce, Jay Martin, Darren Campbell, Jack Maxwell, Mark McElhinney, Ryan Holmes, Peter Jackson, Peter Hutchinson, Theo Dixon, Josh Best, Ryan Allen, Tyler McCreanor. Coaches: Kyle McCallan, Rob Logan. Captain: Reuben McCreery.
Key men: Reuben McCreery, Rory Burns and Year 12’s Ewan Mulligan form a dynamic back row.