To a man everyone united to ‘do this for Jimmy.’ That is what he meant to that team. One abiding memory will be those final seconds in the dressing room before we left to go out on to the pitch at Ravenhill. If it didn’t come off, then you tried a different approach. He trusted you to make decisions on the pitch and to use your skill to best effect. Those of us who were privileged to play that day in front of a 20000 crowd will forever be indebted to the time, effort and guidance that Jimmy put into coaching us.Īrguably more talented teams represented the school in the past without ever having won the trophy but this was a team with great spirit.Ī large part of our success was due to our coach Jimmy Boyle.Ī highly intelligent man and a talented player himself, Jimmy encouraged us to play with freedom and to express ourselves within the team structure. Having lost in the final the previous year, coach Jimmy Boyle guided the team back to a second successive Ravenhill appearance and on this occasion they celebrated with a great win over Belfast Royal Academy.

On March 17th, 1972, Ballymena Academy 1st XV won the Ulster Schools Cup, the blue riband of schools rugby, for the first time in their history. They weren’t the only ones to be shocked by the passing of former Ballymena Academy teacher James (Jimmy) Boyle but this particular ‘“’band of brothers‘”’ had particular reason to feel the loss very keenly. Last weekend a group of local people received a very sad piece of news about the death of a man who had figured significantly in their early lives.

Theft by James Boyle