St. Fintan’s High School began playing the sport of rugby in 2001, and has always had a strong relationship with Suttonians RFC that goes beyond the geographical proximity. At the time Johnny Hughes held the role of Juvenile Officer in Suttonians, and charged Robert Forbes to introduce the sport to St. Fintan’s. With the help of various Suttonians members throughout the years such as Daire Higgins, Adam Griggs and Bru Amerlynck, the sport is firmly established as one of the most popular extracurricular activities in the school. 

Over the past 20 years, the school has made a meteoric rise through the Leinster Schools ranks with Suttonians Youth’s players at the forefront of that journey. From claiming the Leinster Senior Development Cup in 2006 and 2010, the school qualified for the Leinster Schools Senior Cup for the first time in 2017 losing narrowly to traditional heavyweights Clongowes Wood College in a match that was televised live on Eir Sport. 

Subsequent appearances in the Senior Cup followed in 2018 and 2022, and last season the school qualified for the Leinster Schools Junior Cup for the very first time. A memorable run to the semi-finals saw St. Fintan’s claim historic victories over St. Mary’s College and St. Gerard’s School before a narrow 29-21 defeat to Cistercian College Roscrea. 

St. Fintan’s play a vital role in supporting the further development of Suttonians Youth’s players, providing high quality coaching and a level of competition that was previously only available to club players who attended traditional rugby schools. With all four of the school’s teams training and playing on the club’s grounds, the link with the club is continuously reinforced throughout their time with St. Fintan’s and ultimately encourages players to transition through to adult rugby in the club. 

“Our link with Suttonians is very important to the school” explained Director of Rugby, Marc Kaveh. “We take particular pride when past pupils choose to continue playing the game after their time in school, be that with the club’s first or second team.” The prominence of schools rugby can often have a negative effect on club rugby but Kaveh believes that St. Fintan’s have got the correct balance. “We have strived to create a pathway where players are able to balance both, there may be moments where they’ll need to prioritise one over the other but I think the recent statistics around progression to adult rugby speak for themselves.”

The pathway from the school to the Suttonians Men’s Senior Squad has been highly productive, with St. Fintan’s past pupils typically making up between 40-50% of the matchday squad for Leinster League matches. Indeed, the recent home match against Bective Rangers featured nine past pupils amongst the starting fifteen, all of who graduated in the last six years.  

The vast majority of rugby playing schools in Leinster are private schools and as such, in order to maintain competitiveness the school has often relied on fundraising and support from the local community. One of the primary fundraising methods is the St. Fintan’s Table Quiz which is being held in the club on Friday November 11th and promises to be an incredibly enjoyable evening. 

Kaveh also expressed that, “The support we get from Suttonians is invaluable. The table quiz is always a great night with all funds raised directly benefiting all players across our four teams. It would be brilliant to see as many Suttonians members as possible on the night to help support the school.”

8th Annual Table Quiz supporting St. Fintans High School Rugby

• Location: Suttonians RFC
• Date: Friday, 11th of November
• Time: 7:30 pm
• Team Size: 4-6 People
• Entry Fee: €40
• Contact Details: Marc Kaveh - 086 138 2522