St Gerald's College Mayo

Leinster13

I've been living in Spain for 20-odd years, so I don't have a great deal of knowledge about the level of schoolboy rugby now apart from what I hear about the Lesinster schools cup. I'm involved with a club here in Madrid and one of the boys from the club wants to go to Ireland for a year to study (although for him rugby is probably the priority!). His parents are looking at St Gerald's College in Castlebar, Mayo. Would anyone have an idea of the standard of rugby there in comparison say to some of the schools in Leinster... He's looking for a step up in level from the club here in Spain. He'll be under 17 next year so presumably Senior Cup team age.
Thanks for any info

boosabum

St Gerald's College is more focused on gaelic football than rugby.
For rugby then he would need to look at possibly Limerick/Dublin or Roscrea in tipperary who won the schools cuo this year.
Munster/leinster are still the hot beds of rugby for yschool boys

The Lost Sheep

He will be spending more time playing club rugby than schools rugby if he will be in Castlebar and the standard is as high in club rugby in many parts of Connacht as schools rugby from my experience of refereeing and coaching up there.
Castlebar had an under 18.5s and under 16s this season but not an under 17s team so he would be playing under 18.5s.

Standard isn't going to be anywhere near as high as Leinster schools but by playing 18s against likes of Wegians, Buccs, Corinthians, Ballinasloe, Sligo the standard will still be very high with plenty of guys who'll have played or will be playing provincial representative rugby in opposition most weeks

its_phil

Leinster13 wrote: »

I've been living in Spain for 20-odd years, so I don't have a great deal of knowledge about the level of schoolboy rugby now apart from what I hear about the Lesinster schools cup. I'm involved with a club here in Madrid and one of the boys from the club wants to go to Ireland for a year to study (although for him rugby is probably the priority!). His parents are looking at St Gerald's College in Castlebar, Mayo. Would anyone have an idea of the standard of rugby there in comparison say to some of the schools in Leinster... He's looking for a step up in level from the club here in Spain. He'll be under 17 next year so presumably Senior Cup team age.
Thanks for any info

Roscrea boarding is what I'd recommend and there is a strong Spanish/Mexican community there already, many of whom have taken up rugby. Pretty sure there was a Spanish guy on the extended panel when they won the cup. Strong team and good facilities, very easy to come into the school with many other first time boarders who come in for 4th/5th year. Very rare to let new boarders into 6th year

It would be a much higher standard of rugby than Gearlds and there would be no guarantee of making the Cup squad.

The Lost Sheep

Leinster 13 Would the young lad who's coming be able to afford to attend a fee paying school? Where other than Castlebar are options?

its_phil wrote: »

Roscrea boarding is what I'd recommend and there is a strong Spanish/Mexican community there already, many of whom have taken up rugby. Pretty sure there was a Spanish guy on the extended panel when they won the cup. Strong team and good facilities, very easy to come into the school with many other first time boarders who come in for 4th/5th year. Very rare to let new boarders into 6th year

It would be a much higher standard of rugby than Gearlds and there would be no guarantee of making the Cup squad.

If he can afford it...
If cant make senior schools squad going to Castlebar and playing there may be as good..

Leinster13

Thanks for the ideas, but unfortunately the family can't afford a fee-paying school so I'd ruled out all the typical rugby schools in Leinster. I mentioned Pres Bray to the father, as I know that's not a fee-paying school, he's checked on that as a possibility but has been told there's a waiting list. I'm not sure the family would be that keen on him going to a school and playing in a club after school - I think they were looking for the whole package. If anyone knows of a national school anywhere in Ireland which plays rugby to a decent level, it would be great to know.
Thanks again

its_phil

Leinster13 wrote: »

Thanks for the ideas, but unfortunately the family can't afford a fee-paying school so I'd ruled out all the typical rugby schools in Leinster. I mentioned Pres Bray to the father, as I know that's not a fee-paying school, he's checked on that as a possibility but has been told there's a waiting list. I'm not sure the family would be that keen on him going to a school and playing in a club after school - I think they were looking for the whole package. If anyone knows of a national school anywhere in Ireland which plays rugby to a decent level, it would be great to know.
Thanks again

Worth remembering that he would probably staying in digs, food etc which will be more of a variable cost and that all comes with boarding which is more fixed. Jes and Marist are two schools worth looking at

errlloyd

Kilkenny College recently became a non fee paying school, I think they have a reasonably good rugby program (could be wrong)

schmidty

Kilkenny have regular fixtures against almost all of the top schools in Leinster and Munster so the standard of rugby would be fairly high. While not a fee-paying school anymore, it still charges a sports contribution for day pupils which is in the region of 2-3k I think. Boarding fees would be higher than this again.

rugbyman80

Extra Curricular fee is €1,500 and covers all activities offered in the school, including all sports, clubs, societies and groups. This fee also covers supervised study and an evening meal.

The Lost Sheep

Leinster13 wrote: »

Thanks for the ideas, but unfortunately the family can't afford a fee-paying school so I'd ruled out all the typical rugby schools in Leinster. I mentioned Pres Bray to the father, as I know that's not a fee-paying school, he's checked on that as a possibility but has been told there's a waiting list. I'm not sure the family would be that keen on him going to a school and playing in a club after school - I think they were looking for the whole package. If anyone knows of a national school anywhere in Ireland which plays rugby to a decent level, it would be great to know.
Thanks again

Did you look at Limerick and playing a mix of club rugby and schools rugby in Ard Scoil/Castletroy or Munchins all of which are non boarding/fee paying.

Schools rugby isn't be all and end all and club rugby is very strong in many areas. What about Navan and playing with Pats while also playing with probably the strongest youths club in the country in Navan RFC

Tim Robbins

On de Northside, 4 free schools that play Rugby at a reasonable level:

- Skerries Community School had a handy team last year. Hammered everyone they played but then just beaten by fee paying Castlenock 9-6 in SCT qualifier
- St. Fintan's Sutton - beat fee paying St Columba's last year in SCT qualifier but subsequently lost to someone else.
- St. Paul's - Raheny.
- Mount Temple - COI ethos

I think Gorey CC in Wicklow are also pretty handy.

The Lost Sheep

Tim Robbins wrote: »

On de Northside, 4 free schools that play Rugby at a reasonable level:

- Skerries Community School had a handy team last year. Hammered everyone they played but then just beaten by fee paying Castlenock 9-6 in SCT qualifier
- St. Fintan's Sutton - beat fee paying St Columba's last year in SCT qualifier but subsequently lost to someone else.
- St. Paul's - Raheny.
- Mount Temple - COI ethos

I think Gorey CC in Wicklow are also pretty handy.

And key to all those schools espec Skerries, Fintans, Gorey(wexford) is that the teams are very much linked to the local clubs and clubs underage teams and the players do as much training in the clubs as in school

Trojan

Very hard to find a non-fee paying school with strong rugby ethos all in-house, particularly in Connacht.

Just out of interest I checked Sligo Grammar School's fees for 2015: €3k for day students, €9k boarding.

The Lost Sheep

Trojan wrote: »

Very hard to find a non-fee paying school with strong rugby ethos all in-house, particularly in Connacht.

Just out of interest I checked Sligo Grammar School's fees for 2015: €3k for day students, €9k boarding.

Its very hard so OP will probably have to look at a town/area where there is a strong club combined with a school that has a strong enough rugby ethos.
Pats Navan would be a good option and in Connacht Jes, Bish, Garbally, Marist are all non fee paying with strong rugby ethos. The Limerick city schools all are options

Trojan

Kinda off-topic, but I'd strongly recommend a co-ed school for social developmental reasons.

Ok, yeah, not even vaguely on-topic

cp

The Lost Sheep wrote: »

Its very hard so OP will probably have to look at a town/area where there is a strong club combined with a school that has a strong enough rugby ethos.
Pats Navan would be a good option and in Connacht Jes, Bish, Garbally, Marist are all non fee paying with strong rugby ethos. The Limerick city schools all are options

You could add Summerhill in Sligo to that list if they are fixed on Connacht.

Tim Robbins

Yeah some good points from everyone here. I am involved with GAA as well as Rugby at the moment and one massive difference in GAA is you get a massive amount of volunteers, so for every X number of players you get Y number of volunteers.

Whereas with the Rugby schools, everyone pays 5K and you pay top quality coaches to get the game up to a high standard. It is a high standard but it is all because of the money people are paying, whereas the GAA it is a high standard because of volunteers.

The Lost Sheep

cp wrote: »

You could add Summerhill in Sligo to that list if they are fixed on Connacht.

Summerhill wouldn't have the ethos of the others in Connacht and hey may struggle over next year or two as they had a strong side this year based on a strong Sligo RFC u18.5s many of whom are moving on if what I was told at one of their cup games this season is correct.

Tim Robbins wrote: »

Yeah some good points from everyone here. I am involved with GAA as well as Rugby at the moment and one massive difference in GAA is you get a massive amount of volunteers, so for every X number of players you get Y number of volunteers.

Whereas with the Rugby schools, everyone pays 5K and you pay top quality coaches to get the game up to a high standard. It is a high standard but it is all because of the money people are paying, whereas the GAA it is a high standard because of volunteers.

That's a load of rubbish to be honest tim and very ignorant of the work in virtually all clubs around the country

Tim Robbins

The Lost Sheep wrote: »

Summerhill wouldn't have the ethos of the others in Connacht and hey may struggle over next year or two as they had a strong side this year based on a strong Sligo RFC u18.5s many of whom are moving on if what I was told at one of their cup games this season is correct.

That's a load of rubbish to be honest tim and very ignorant of the work in virtually all clubs around the country

Was referring more to schools rugby which is still the primary source of the sport.

The Lost Sheep

Tim Robbins wrote: »

Was referring more to schools rugby which is still the primary source of the sport.

Not in most of the country.

You said GAA has lots of volunteers. True but rugby has a "massive amount" as well. Rugby isn't simply a high standard because of money in the schools. That is completely ignorant of the work being done. Its because of volunteers as much as the GAA.

Tim Robbins

The Lost Sheep wrote: »

Not in most of the country.

You said GAA has lots of volunteers. True but rugby has a "massive amount" as well. Rugby isn't simply a high standard because of money in the schools. That is completely ignorant of the work being done. Its because of volunteers as much as the GAA.

In Leinster, 90% of the players are coming from schools who are getting excellent coaching but only because the schools have money to pay excellent coaches.

Whereas in the Dublin GAA team, most of the player come through a system where no coaches are even getting paid.

Anyway, going off point.

Leinster13

Thanks for all the information - looks like St Gerald's has been ruled out. The family are still looking at different non-fee paying options and another school which they have been looking at is De la Salle in Churchtown. In my day they were a school with a reasonable level at most age groups. Can anyone tell me how they've been doing recently?
Thanks

Tim Robbins

Leinster13 wrote: »

Thanks for all the information - looks like St Gerald's has been ruled out. The family are still looking at different non-fee paying options and another school which they have been looking at is De la Salle in Churchtown. In my day they were a school with a reasonable level at most age groups. Can anyone tell me how they've been doing recently?
Thanks

Section B League last year:

Pool A:

1 Wilsons Hospital 4 3 0 1 110 40 70 3 0 15
2 The High School 4 3 0 1 118 42 76 1 0 13
3 St Columbas College 4 2 0 2 50 46 4 2 0 10
4 Newpark Comprehensive 4 2 0 2 68 76 -8 1 0 9
5 De La Salle Churchtown 4 0 0 4 25 167 -142 0 0 0

Pool B:
1 Skerries Community College 4 4 0 0 183 26 157 3 0 19
2 St Patricks Classical School Navan 4 3 0 1 117 63 54 2 0 14
3 Templeogue College 4 2 0 2 66 132 -66 1 0 9
4 St Pauls College 4 1 0 3 51 122 -71 1 0 5
5 Mount Temple 4 0 0 4 27 101 -74 2 0 2

Senior League - A:

1 Newbridge College 5 4 1 0 163 37 126 2 0 20
2 Cistercian College Roscrea 5 4 0 1 100 62 38 2 0 18
3 St Andrews College 5 3 1 1 123 59 64 2 0 16
4 CBC Monkstown 5 2 0 3 111 85 26 1 0 9
5 St Gerards School 5 1 0 4 46 66 -20 2 0 6
6 Presentation College Bray 5 0 0 5 23 257 -234 0 0 0

Senior League - B:

1 Castleknock College 5 5 0 0 133 20 113 1 0 21
2 The Kings Hospital 5 3 0 2 108 69 39 4 0 16
3 Wesley College 5 3 0 2 87 88 -1 1 0 13
4 Kilkenny College 5 3 0 2 73 74 -1 1 0 13
5 CUS 5 1 0 4 52 133 -81 0 0 4
6 Gonzaga College 5 0 0 5 47 116 -69 1 0 1


The others are the big 6: Belvo, Michaels, Marys, Rock, Terenure, Clongows.

So out of 28 schools in Leinster playing above development level, we have:

• Bevlo - fee paying
• Michael - fee paying
• Marys - fee paying
• Rock - fee paying
• Terenure - fee paying
• Clongows - fee paying
• Wilsons Hospital - fee paying
• The High School - fee paying
• St Columbas College - fee paying
• Newpark Comprehensive - free
• De La Salle Churchtown - free
• Skerries Community College - free
• St Patricks Classical School Navan - fee paying
• Templeogue College - fee paying
• St Pauls College - free
• Mount Temple - free
• Newbridge College - Fee paying
• Cistercian College Roscrea - Fee paying
• Andrews - Fee paying
• Monkstown - Fee paying
• St Gerards School - fee paying
• Presentation College Bray - Free
• Castleknock College - Fee paying
• The Kings Hospital - Fee paying
• Wesley College - Fee paying
• Kilkenny College - Fee paying
• CUS - Fee paying
• Gonzaga College - Fee paying

If I have anything wrong there message me and I'll update. Would be interesting if anyone has time to make a full table with the costs as well.

Leinster13

Tim Robbins wrote: »

Section B League last year:

Pool A:

1 Wilsons Hospital 4 3 0 1 110 40 70 3 0 15
2 The High School 4 3 0 1 118 42 76 1 0 13
3 St Columbas College 4 2 0 2 50 46 4 2 0 10
4 Newpark Comprehensive 4 2 0 2 68 76 -8 1 0 9
5 De La Salle Churchtown 4 0 0 4 25 167 -142 0 0 0

Pool B:
1 Skerries Community College 4 4 0 0 183 26 157 3 0 19
2 St Patricks Classical School Navan 4 3 0 1 117 63 54 2 0 14
3 Templeogue College 4 2 0 2 66 132 -66 1 0 9
4 St Pauls College 4 1 0 3 51 122 -71 1 0 5
5 Mount Temple 4 0 0 4 27 101 -74 2 0 2

Senior League - A:

1 Newbridge College 5 4 1 0 163 37 126 2 0 20
2 Cistercian College Roscrea 5 4 0 1 100 62 38 2 0 18
3 St Andrews College 5 3 1 1 123 59 64 2 0 16
4 CBC Monkstown 5 2 0 3 111 85 26 1 0 9
5 St Gerards School 5 1 0 4 46 66 -20 2 0 6
6 Presentation College Bray 5 0 0 5 23 257 -234 0 0 0

Senior League - B:

1 Castleknock College 5 5 0 0 133 20 113 1 0 21
2 The Kings Hospital 5 3 0 2 108 69 39 4 0 16
3 Wesley College 5 3 0 2 87 88 -1 1 0 13
4 Kilkenny College 5 3 0 2 73 74 -1 1 0 13
5 CUS 5 1 0 4 52 133 -81 0 0 4
6 Gonzaga College 5 0 0 5 47 116 -69 1 0 1


The others are the big 6: Belvo, Michaels, Marys, Rock, Terenure, Clongows.

So out of 28 schools in Leinster playing above development level, we have:

• Bevlo - fee paying
• Michael - fee paying
• Marys - fee paying
• Rock - fee paying
• Terenure - fee paying
• Clongows - fee paying
• Wilsons Hospital - fee paying
• The High School - fee paying
• St Columbas College - fee paying
• Newpark Comprehensive - free
• De La Salle Churchtown - free
• Skerries Community College - free
• St Patricks Classical School Navan - fee paying
• Templeogue College - fee paying
• St Pauls College - free
• Mount Temple - free
• Newbridge College - Fee paying
• Cistercian College Roscrea - Fee paying
• Andrews - Fee paying
• Monkstown - Fee paying
• St Gerards School - fee paying
• Presentation College Bray - Free
• Castleknock College - Fee paying
• The Kings Hospital - Fee paying
• Wesley College - Fee paying
• Kilkenny College - Fee paying
• CUS - Fee paying
• Gonzaga College - Fee paying

If I have anything wrong there message me and I'll update. Would be interesting if anyone has time to make a full table with the costs as well.

Thanks TimRobbins very detailed A question for you - In the section B league is pool B weaker than Pool A? Or are they just two groups at more or less the same level. If they're the same level it would seem for a non-fee paying school, Skerries are doing well.

The Lost Sheep

Tim Robbins wrote: »

In Leinster, 90% of the players are coming from schools who are getting excellent coaching but only because the schools have money to pay excellent coaches.

Whereas in the Dublin GAA team, most of the player come through a system where no coaches are even getting paid.

Anyway, going off point.

There is most certainly coaches being paid in GAA.....
The coaching in schools isnt good just because of money and you're foolish for thinking that to be true

Leinster13 wrote: »

Thanks TimRobbins very detailed A question for you - In the section B league is pool B weaker than Pool A? Or are they just two groups at more or less the same level. If they're the same level it would seem for a non-fee paying school, Skerries are doing well.

Section B league pools vary each year like section A league... 2 groups

thehairyone

Have they figured out how much they hope to spend on digs etc? might be worth finding out how much boarding would cost at places like Roscrea or kilkenny college. in the end it might not be that much more expensive and id imagine he would get a much better "rugby" education at boarding schools.

Leinster13

thehairyone wrote: »

Have they figured out how much they hope to spend on digs etc? might be worth finding out how much boarding would cost at places like Roscrea or kilkenny college. in the end it might not be that much more expensive and id imagine he would get a much better "rugby" education at boarding schools.

The family are doing the whole process through an agency here in Madrid that places students in all types of schools. There's a difference of about 6k I think between a fee-paying boarding school and a non fee-paying school staying with a family. So I think he's going to go non fee-paying...

Clearlier

Tim Robbins wrote: »

If I have anything wrong there message me and I'll update. Would be interesting if anyone has time to make a full table with the costs as well.

I think that Templeogue are non-fee paying.

Tim Robbins

The Lost Sheep wrote: »

There is most certainly coaches being paid in GAA.....
The coaching in schools isnt good just because of money and you're foolish for thinking that to be true

Alright sorry I am foolish.