Bandon Grammar School is in resurgent form, but the school has a long rugby history dating back to the 1880s
With a rugby tradition stretching back to the 1880s, the Grammar School is enjoying a resurgence of late, say Ian Coombes and George Bradfield
RUGBY was played at Bandon Grammar School as early as the 1880s. A report from 1888 (see panel) shows the game already well established. By the 1890s, matches are recorded against Cork Grammar School, ‘The Rushers’ from Cork and Bandon RFC. The latter were practising for the Munster Cup campaign. The school team then included pupils, past pupils and teachers. The team formation included nine forwards, three halves, two ‘quarters’ (modern three-quarters or centres) and a full-back.
Rugby died out at the school by the end of the century due to lack of numbers and was revived sporadically in the 1930s and 1940s. The permanent revival of rugby began in 1958 when the school moved to Richmount – its present site. For the first time the school had its own pitch and, under the coaching of Derek Johnson, the game took hold.
There were some good teams in the 1960s and 1970s producing players including Jim Good (Cork Con) and Bertie Smith (Cork Con, Munster and Ireland ‘B’). The school has entered the Senior Cup competition through the qualifier route since 1974 and won their first Mungret Cup and Mungret Shield in the 1981-82 season, also losing to CBC in the Munster Senior Cup semi-final that year.
Hockey predominated in the late 1990s and up to 2008, but rugby returned to the ascendant thereafter with five Mungret Cups won out of six up to 2015. At that point the school decided to try for ‘A’ status on the invitation of the Munster Schools Section. Winning the Mungret Cup, Mungret Shield and McCarthy Cup (under-15) that year also led to the award of Munster Rugby School of the Year based on improved coaching structures.
A closer link with Bandon RFC was developed that summer and the decision was made to seek a joint Director of Rugby. That eventually resulted in Regis Sonnes joining and building up the team of coaches to prepare for competing at the highest level.
Since 1981-82 when the Mungret Cup was taken back to Richmount for that first time, the rugby curve has been upward but, as the Principal so clearly defines, 2008 was the watershed year.
That said, there were many great team achievements and individual peformances before that. In 1983 the SCT reached the quarter-final of the Munster Cup v Crescent.
Gary Giles (’85/’86) and Stephen Dale (’87/’88) were capped for Munster Schools in that decade, with both also making the Irish Schools Trial.
The ’90s made for a fallow period for BGS rugby, although Ronan Harris was selected on Munster under-18 schoolboys in 1999/2000. In 2003/04 the Mungret Cup was won again, beating Newtown School in the final. Between 2009 and 2015 it was almost in the ownership of Bandon (2012/13 being the odd year out).
Apart from doing the clean sweep of Mungret Cup and Shield as well as McCarthy Cup, culminating in the awarding of Munster School of the Year for 2014/15, Gavin Coombes and David Jennings were selected for Munster at under-18 and under-19 respectively.
The following season saw the SCT reach the Munster Cup quarter-final again before losing to the might of PBC (39-10). In addition there was the Bowen Shield Final, while James French (under-18) and Gavin Coombes (under-19) added to the representative roll of honour, as did Ethan Greene and Colin Deane, both being picked for the Munster under-18 Clubs side.
And then came 2016/17, when the bar was repositioned at a different level. Cup semi-finalists squeezed out by Pres (12-3). Bowen Shield finalists again and with Colin Deane (as Captain) and Travis Cooney representing Munster under-18 Schools added to by James French and Sean Hudson being selected for the provincial under-19s.
Obviously there is still a way to go to bridge the gap on the city’s big two but year upon year, particularly this decade, from little acorns oak trees are beginning to grow. Just how great they will become only time will tell. November was another special time in the history of this great sporting school, when Darren Sweetnam (pictured left) was selected for Ireland for the Autumn Internationals and in the process (including crossing for his first try in green) became the first BGS fully fledged international since Clarke, Belcher De Burgh and the rest began doing their thing the best part of a 130 years ago.
And of course, one thing we can all be certain, the best is yet to come.