Rugby

Rugby is one of the major winter sports played at Inst. In addition to promoting sporting excellence, the Rugby Club is also proud of its inclusive approach with close to 300 boys representing teams each Saturday. Inst has a very strong fixture list - playing against local competitors in Ulster as well as schools in Leinster and Munster.

Rugby has been played formally at Inst since 1872. The Ulster Schools’ Cup was introduced in 1876 - overall Inst have reached 57 finals, winning the Cup 32 times and sharing it on 4 occasions. Of most recent note was the treble success of the 1^st XV who won the Schools’ Cup in 2014/15 and retained it for the next two years. The Medallion (Under 15) competition was introduced in 1910 and Inst have competed in 52 finals, winning 35 times and sharing the trophy on 3 occasions.

Each year Inst is very well represented in the Ulster Schools’ Squads at both Under 19 and Under 18 level, with many of these boys going on to represent Irish Schools’. Past pupils have also regularly gone on to play for Ulster – recent examples being Michael Lowry and James Hume who left Inst in 2017. Most notably Inst is Ireland’s leading school in the production of senior International players and British and Irish Lions. To date, Inst has produced 85 Internationals and 13 Lions, 2 of whom were captains, Sammy Walker in 1938 and Robin Thompson in 1955. In terms of rugby administration, 20 former pupils have been President of the Ulster Branch and 10 have been President of the IRFU.

For up-to-date information on the Rugby Club, please follow our Facebook page by clicking

https://en-gb.facebook.com/pages/category/School-Sports-Team/RBAI-Rugby-1376901265882348/

Staff List 2018-19: