The Leinster Schools Senior Challenge Cup is the premier rugby union competition for secondary schools affiliated to the Leinster Branch of the IRFU. First held in 1887, the Cup celebrated its 120th anniversary in 2007.
Attendances are high for a schoolboy competition, with up to 25,000 present at the final. This match traditionally takes place on Saint Patrick's Day at Lansdowne Road (now known as the Aviva Stadium). In 2011, the final was played at the RDS, and the Cup was won by Clongowes Wood College.
The competition has been subject to criticism from various quarters as being "elitist" (as most of the competing schools are fee paying, In fact only one non fee paying school has won the cup De La Salle Churchtown) and for putting undue pressure on its participants. It is also the subject of satire through the Ross O'Carroll Kelly newspaper column and novels. The competition and schools rugby in the four provinces has been praised though with "Irish (rugby) game in debt to schools rugby".[1]
Blackrock College are by far the most successful school in the Cup's history, having lifted the Cup sixty-six times, followed by Belvedere College and Terenure College with ten wins each.[2]
The Cup, and the Schools who play for it, have a history of producing fine rugby players, many of whom go on to play for Ireland. Players such as Denis Hickie, who captained his St. Mary's College team to win the cup in 1994, and Gordon D'Arcy have impressive senior cup records. The most international players produced have come from Blackrock College, with players such as Brian O'Driscoll, Victor Costello, Shane Byrne, Bob Casey, Leo Cullen and more recently Luke Fitzgerald.
Other notable men to take part in the competition include Éamon de Valera, Ruairi Quinn, James Joyce and John O'Shea (humanitarian). The owner of Independent News and Media and former CEO of the HJ Heinz Company, Anthony O'Reilly, who himself would represent Ireland and the Lions in the future, famously stayed in Belvedere College for an extra year in order to try to win a Cup medal.
Three captains have gained the distinction of lifting the cup twice, Jonny Mion (Blackrock College) in 1989 and 1990, Barry Gibney (Blackrock College) in 1995 and 1996.
Contents |
| School | Location | Titles | Winning years |
|---|---|---|---|
| Blackrock College | Blackrock, Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown | 66 | 1887–88, 1890–91, 1893–97, 1900–05, 1907–10, 1912, 1915–19, 1926–30, 1933–36, 1939–40, 1942–43, 1945, 1948–50, 1953–57, 1960, 1962–64, 1967, 1974–75, 1977, 1981, 1986–87, 1989–90, 1995–96, 1999, 2004, 2006, 2009 |
| Belvedere College | Great Denmark Street, Dublin City | 10 | 1923–25, 1938, 1946, 1951, 1968, 1971–72, 2005, 2008 |
| Terenure College | Terenure, Dublin City | 10 | 1952, 1958, 1979–80, 1982, 1984, 1992–93, 1997, 2001, 2003 |
| Castleknock College | Castleknock, Fingal | 8 | 1913, 1920, 1931, 1937, 1944, 1947, 1959, 1965 |
| Clongowes Wood College | Clane, County Kildare | 8 | 1926, 1978, 1988, 1991, 1998, 2000, 2010, 2011 |
| St. Mary's College | Rathmines, Dublin City | 5 | 1961, 1966, 1969, 1994, 2002 |
| St. Andrew's College | Booterstown, Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown | 4 | 1906, 1911, 1921–22 |
| De La Salle Churchtown | Churchtown, South Dublin | 2 | 1983, 1985 |
| Newbridge College | Newbridge, County Kildare | 2 | 1941, 1970 |
| St. Michael's College | Ailesbury Road, South Dublin | 1 | 2007 |
| C.B.C. Monkstown | Monkstown, Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown | 1 | 1976 |
| The High School | Rathgar, South Dublin | 1 | 1973 |
| Presentation College | Bray, County Wicklow | 1 | 1932 |
| Mountjoy School¹ | Clontarf, Dublin City | 1 | 1914 |
| Saint Columba's College | Whitechurch, South Dublin | 1 | 1899 |
| Wesley College | Ballinteer, Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown | 1 | 1898 |
| Corrig School | Monkstown, Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown | 1 | 1889 |
¹ Mountjoy School was amalgamated with other schools in 1972 to become Mount Temple Comprehensive School.
The point values of scores in rugby union have changed many times in its history. This table summarises them.
| Period | Try | Conversion | Penalty | Drop goal | Goal from mark |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| To 1891 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 |
| 1891—93 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 |
| 1893—1905 | 3 | 2 | |||
| 1905—48 | 3 | ||||
| 1948—71 | 3 | ||||
| 1971—77 | 4 | ||||
| 1977—92 | – | ||||
| 1992—present | 5 |
Drawn finals are replayed. In this table, the result of the replay is given below the result of the drawn game.
The competition was known for several years as the "Coca-Cola Leinster Schools Senior Cup" and in more recent years the "Powerade Leinster Schools Senior Cup" (Powerade is also owned by the Coca Cola Company).
The competition receives extensive coverage in Ireland's broadsheets, in particular The Irish Independent and The Irish Times. Both publish previews of each years competition and provide match reports for each game played.
In years gone by the competition's final on St Patrick's Day would sometimes be broadcast on TG4, however, this was discontinued in the early 2000s. From 2005 onwards, however, Setanta Sports began extensive coverage of school's rugby. This included the finals of all provincial finals and coverage of the Leinster Schools Junior Cup. The Leinster Senior Cup was most prominent, however, with coverage from every game played at Donnybrook and every round of the competition.
In 2008, Leinster Rugby instituted a new award for overall performance of a school at every level of schools rugby. The award, Powerade Leinster Rugby School of the Year is given at the annual Leinster awards ceremony. The inaugural winners were C.B.C. Monkstown whilst in 2009 Terenure College receveived the prize.[3][4]