Wallace High School pupil Christopher Henry (18) had the honour of captaining the Irish Schools` XV in their recent match against the Irish Under 19 XV. Christopher, who has also captained the Ulster Schools` Side in matches against Leinster and Munster, travelled to Dublin for three days of training over the Christmas holidays and was delighted when his team won by 22 – 5.
He said, “I had an amazing three days – it was a great experience playing with such a talented bunch of guys from all over Ireland. I hope to maintain my position at flankside number 6 for the forthcoming matches against England, Wales and France in April.” Christopher, who started playing rugby at the age of six with Malone, currently trains five times a week.
In the coming weeks he will be very busy preparing for Wallace`s First Round match in the Renault Ulster Schools` Cup. Christopher also captains the school`s First Xv and plays at number 8. He added, “We`re playing Campbell College , Belfast on Saturday 25 January at Fox`s field. The entire Wallace squad would welcome support from all rugby fans in Lisburn.” Coach of Wallace`s First XV , Mr Brian Bloomfield, commented, “Christopher has joined a distinguished group of rugby players from Wallace High School honoured by Irish Schools.In his third season playing for the First Xv at Wallace, Christopher follows his brother John who played for Irish Schools three years ago.
Previous honours were gained by Joel Calllaghan, Phillip Melville and Willie Howard who played in the first ever Irish Schools` team in 1977. Later in the season the Irish Schools` have a full programme of international matches and Christopher should play a leading role in these. His future in the game will be followed by Wallace supporters with keen interest.”
Wallace`s Master in Charge of Rugby, Mr Neil Hinds added, “Chris is a talented and highly motivated and well respected player who always leads by example. We are thrilled with his success.” Christopher`s father, Bill, a past president of Malone Rugby Club, is rightly proud of his son, ” The family is delighted and very proud of Christopher, as is everyone at Malone. We hope he will have a continued run of success playing for both Ulster and Ireland.”
Last modified: March 7, 2017
