Portora are confident they can reverse an early season defeat to Regent House School and progress to round three of the Danske Bank Schools Cup. 
The draw has pitted them against the side that also put them out of the competition at the same stage two years ago but Portora coach Rhys Botha believes they can come away with a positive result this time around.
“It is going to be a hard one, especially having to travel up there, but we are happy with the draw and we will have to try and turn around the result from earlier in the season and beat them,” he said. 
“We lost to them the last time and we know what their strengths are.They attacked our backs, and we are going to have to make sure that we are prepared for that and then when we get the ball we play to our strengths.
" We have a big packs of forwards and we also have the ability within the team to spread the ball out wide. 
"We will have to make sure we have a good balance between attacking forwards and the backs. Everybody is geared up for it.”
As always the Schools' Cup encounter will be the biggest game of the season for the Portora squad and there is always the chance of nerves playing their part, but Rhys is confident that his side is experienced enough to deal with any extra pressure. 
“We have quite a few who have played schools cup rugby before,” he said. 
“We have a core of about seven or eight from last year’s competition, and then we have a few boys from the Medallion squad who have done really well and are coming through and adding to it, so it’s not a bad squad at the moment.”
The match will be the latest in a season long campaign that has seen continual improvement despite losing important players during at crucial periods. 
“Once again we have had a few key injuries and I think we have only had one match where we have been able to play with our full squad, but we have a bunch of really good young guys coming through who have bolstered our squad and they have come in and done really well for us,” said the coach. 
“We have a good balance in the squad between forwards and backs. 
"We would like a bit more depth but the younger guys coming through have been able to give us that and they have stepped into the void which is great. The season has gone really well for us.”
With the proposed school merger meaning this could be the last time the Portora name competes for the trophy, the team have yet another incentive to do well. 
“This is more than likely the last year of Portora rugby and we would love to go as far as possible, starting with a win over Regent and going on form there.”
The tie has handed Portora a marathon journey, but the squad will make the trip to Newtownards the day before the game as they aim to put their name in the hat for Round Three of the competition. 
The match kicks off at 11.00am on Saturday morning.