Historic Senior Cup Debut for Kinsale Community School

Kinsale Community School marked a significant milestone in its sporting history on Thursday afternoon as our U19 Boys made their debut in the Munster Senior Schools Cup, taking on Glenstal Abbey in the first round at Dooradoyle, home of Garryowen RFC.

While the final scoreline read Glenstal Abbey 34 – Kinsale Community School 10, it was a performance full of character, resilience, and promise from a Kinsale side competing at this elite level for the very first time.

On a dry but cold afternoon in Limerick, Glenstal’s quality—particularly in their backline—told in the opening exchanges. Two first-half tries saw Kinsale trail 14–0 at the interval, despite strong defensive work and several promising attacking opportunities that went unrewarded due to handling errors at crucial moments.

Early in the second half, Glenstal struck quickly with two more tries, stretching their lead and underlining why they are former winners of the competition. Credit to the Kinsale players, however, who refused to let heads drop.

The final quarter belonged to Kinsale in spirit and endeavour. With Glenstal reduced to 14 men for long periods due to persistent infringements, Kinsale capitalised with two well-taken tries.

John Quinn powered over in the right corner to the delight of the travelling West Cork supporters, before Cillian Fitzpatrick showed excellent footwork to weave through the defence for Kinsale’s second try. These moments provided a fitting reward for a team that has worked tirelessly to reach this stage.

This Senior Cup appearance comes on the back of a memorable 20–12 victory over Hamilton High School before Christmas, a result that secured Kinsale’s place among the top schools in Munster rugby.

Individual performances from Ben O’Callaghan, John Quinn and Harry O’Leary stood out on the day, while the collective effort highlighted just how far rugby in Kinsale Community School has progressed in recent years.

This first foray into the Munster Senior Cup will only embolden the squad and the wider school community. Competing on this stage is a testament to the dedication of the players, coaches, and all who support rugby in Kinsale Community School. The U19s remain in contention in the Mungret Cup semi-final, the B Schools competition, with reaching this stage reflecting sustained performance across the season.

The school would like to sincerely thank the Nagle family for their generous sponsorship of full match-day kits for the Senior and Junior Cup teams. With Cian and Brian Nagle representing the Junior and Senior squads respectively, their support on and off the pitch is greatly appreciated.

Well done to the entire panel on reaching this historic milestone — the future is bright for KCS Rugby.