Bank of Ireland Schools Cup Draw Preview

Today, thousands of eyes across the province will be trained on the Leinster Domestic Twitter account (@LeinsterBranch) from 6.30pm as the draw for the Bank of Ireland Leinster Schools’ Senior and Junior Cups in association with Beauchamps Solicitors is made…

It is quite hard to believe that Blackrock College’s all-conquering year of 2014 is coming to an end – although similar sentiments would have been heard at this stage last year. In 2013/2014 Blackrock reasserted themselves as the leading schools side in the province and will once again have legitimate hopes for glory in 2015. Indeed, only Blackrock can lay claim to have won three successive senior titles, however the last time they succeeded in that feat was in 1964… 

Following a victorious showing at the recent Bicentenary Festival in Clongowes, St. Michael’s College will be the name that all others will be keen to avoid in Monday’s senior draw. Not since Blackrock’s 1996 vintage (Casey, Cullen, Scally et al.), will a team of such physical size, coupled with considerable ability, have taken to the field in the first round of Leinster’s premier schools’ competition.

As ever, the U16 preseason has provided a mixed bag of results with little by way of clear definition being offered coming into Monday’s draw. Inevitably Blackrock and St. Michael’s will have some say, while both Terenure and Gonzaga have garnered fine reputations. 2008 aside, Clongowes are the perennial underachievers at this level, yet nobody will dare to write them off.    

While Blackrock College have held the Senior Cup aloft on 68 occasions, the dawning of the professional era 20 years ago has seen their stranglehold loosen somewhat as rugby becomes ever more popular throughout the province. With the McMullen Cup drawing to a close, the Vinnie Murray Cup, the penultimate qualifying stage for the Senior Cup, will now have schools from Bray, Dublin, Enniscorthy, Gorey, Mullingar, Navan and Tullow all vying for the final two opportunities to have a shot at the so-called ‘big-boys’. All of these sides will no doubt take heart from the romantic adventure of St. Andrew’s College, who last year found themselves in Donnybrook facing Clongowes in the semi-final, a stage they had not featured at since 1922.

Keep up-to-date with live tweeting from @LeinsterBranch.