The Irish Schoolboys rugby union team is the national team for secondary school students and under-18 school players in Ireland.
There is an equivalent Ireland under 18 clubs side that play international rugby.
Role
The Irish Schoolboys side represents the nation against youths of other nations.
They provide a starting point for Ireland qualified players that has led to players representing the National Team, Ireland A, Development, Provincial, Students, Irish U-20 and
AIL
Ail or AIL may refer to:
* Illness, a state of poor health
* Ail (''Sailor Moon''), a character in the ''Sailor Moon'' anime series
* Acceptance in lieu, an arrangement in the UK for accepting works of art etc. in lieu of tax
* Agilus, a Frankis ...
teams.
Currently in both the
Republic
A republic () is a "state in which power rests with the people or their representatives; specifically a state without a monarchy" and also a "government, or system of government, of such a state." Previously, especially in the 17th and 18th c ...
and Northern Ireland there are 246 Schools playing rugby; Ulster (107), Leinster (75), Munster (41) and Connacht (23).
School competitions
Each of the four Provinces holds a Schools Cup competition every season, usually culminating in a Provincial Cup Final held on or around St Patricks Day (17 March each year). Despite the age group the qualifying games and finals are usually very well attended with crowds often better than those attending most adult club games, for Leinster Schools Cup Finals crowds of 15–20,000 are not unusual. This has brought onboard sponsors of the various competitions such as the Northern Bank Schools' Cup (Ulster),Supermacs Schools Cup (Connacht) and the Powerade Schools' Cup (Leinster).
Opposition
They also play against other 6 Nations countries' schoolboys sides during the year, and also other test playing nations schools teams on a more infrequent basis.
Recent matches include a narrow loss to France in a schoolboy Under-18 match on 20 December 2007.
Since 2011, the team has taken part in the annual
European Under-18 Rugby Union Championship
The Rugby Europe Under-18 Championship is an annual rugby union championship for Under-18 national teams, held since 2004. The championship is organised by rugby's European governing body, Rugby Europe.2011
File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...
. It was Ireland's fourth appearance in the final, having previously lost to France in 2007, 2008 and 2010. 2011 marked the first time that Ireland was represented by a schools team rather than a Clubs XV.European Glory For Ireland Schools Team ''IRU'' website, published: 23 April 2011. Retrieved 23 April 2011
Notable former Schoolboy representatives
The following players have been called by the Ireland senior national team. The casual reader may notice that the list contains mainly Ulster & Leinster players. Contrary to popular belief, one does not have to be a Leinster player to be recognised as having exceptional rugby ability.
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Andrew Trimble
Andrew Trimble (born 20 October 1984) is a former Irish rugby union player who played for Ulster and represented Ireland at international level.
Club career
He attended Coleraine Academical Institution, where he competed in the Ulster Schools ...
Paddy Wallace
Patrick Wallace (born 27 August 1979) is an Ireland rugby union player who played for Ireland's national team and played for Ulster. A native of Belfast, he attended Rockport School and Campbell College. He was a member of the Ireland U19 side ...
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Jacob Stockdale
Jacob Stockdale (born 3 April 1996) is an Irish professional rugby union player who currently plays for Ulster and for Ireland. He plays on the wing or at fullback. He holds the record for tries scored in a single Six Nations Championship, scori ...
Simon Best
Simon Best (born 11 February 1978) is a former Irish rugby union footballer. He played for Ulster Rugby, Ulster and was club captain in Ulster's 2005/06 Pro14, Celtic League winning season. Simon missed the final game of Ulster' successful cam ...
Stuart Olding
Stuart Olding (born 11 March 1993) is a rugby union rugby player. He plays at centre and fullback. Olding played for Ulster from 2011 until 2018 when his contract was revoked. At international level, he has played for the Ireland U-20 and Irela ...
James Hume James Hume may refer to:
* James Hume (architect) (1798–1868), architect in Sydney, Australia
* James Hume (cricketer) (1858–1909), Scottish-born New Zealand cricketer
* James Hume (magistrate) (1808–1862), British magistrate and political co ...
Iain Henderson
William Iain Henderson (born 21 February 1992) is an Irish professional rugby union player who plays lock for Ulster, Ireland, and the British and Irish Lions. He has been the captain of Ulster since the 2019, and first captained Ireland in 2021 ...
Gavin Duffy
Gavin Duffy (born Liam Duffy; 29 April 1960) Kildare, Ireland is an Irish entrepreneur and businessman who was a former part owner of the HRM Group of Companies, one of Ireland's largest recruitment companies. Duffy is a regular conference spea ...
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Andrew Dunne
Andrew "Andy" Dunne born 18 October 1979 in Castleknock Dublin, Ireland is a former professional rugby union
Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half ...