Teams · Elite Rugby
U20 Rugby
U20 Premier XV & U20 Freshers XV
U20 Premier XV — Competitions
U20 Freshers XV — Competitions
The club has fielded a side in Leinster's top under-age grade since at least 1970-71: as the U19s, who won the first Charles McCorry Cup in 1970-71, then as the U20s from the mid-1990s and, while Leinster ran the grade as Under-21, as the U21s from 2009-10 to 2012-13. A second side has run as the U20 Pennant XV and, from 2025-26, the U20 Freshers XV.
The U20s compete in the J.P. Fanagan League, named after the club's own Joe Fanagan, and in the McCorry Cup (Premier 1 sides), the Purcell Cup and the Harry Gale Cup. Over the years they have brought home three McCorry Cups, four Purcell Cups, the 2010 J.P. Fanagan League and two Premier 2 titles, and they have been a steady route into the senior squad.
Cup and league wins by the club's U19, U20 and U21 sides. The U20 Honours page lists them live from the master Club Honours list.
The premier Leinster U19/U20 cup
Leinster U20 cup for non-Premier 1 sides
Leinster U20 league (U21 2009-14)
Second-team competitions
Forerunner of the U20 grade
Click a final for the team, scorers and photos where we have them.
1971 McCorry Cup final (U19) — Won 6–3 v UCD ‘A’ Won
1970-71 season
Inaugural winners, McCorry Cup (U19/20) 1970-71. Back: E. Carmody (Coach), B. McKell, H. Bourke, G. Walsh, P. Greene, Rev. W. Kennedy, E. Morgan, M. O’Brien, T. O’Flanagan, M. Colley, P.J. Bolger (President). Middle: T. Lynch, C. Sweeney, B. Bennett, P. Andreucetti (Capt.), E. Wigglesworth, L. Grissing, B. Grimson. Front: P. McLaughlin, F. Kennedy. (James Maguire Archive)
The first McCorry Cup, won in the club’s 1971 treble season alongside the Leinster Senior Cup and the Metropolitan Cup. Captain Paul Andreucetti went on to win 19 Leinster caps.
Captain: Paul Andreucetti
1994 McCorry Cup final (U19) — Lost 12–14 v Greystones Runners-up
Saturday 26 March 1994 · Anglesea Road
Greystones won the cup for the first time; Fergal Campion kicked all of St Mary’s 12 points.
Captain: Conor McGuinness
Scorers: Fergal Campion: three penalties and a drop goal.
Source: Final programme and press cutting.
1997 J.P. Fanagan League final — Lost 19–34 v Blackrock College Runners-up
1996-97 season · Donnybrook
St Mary’s reached the final on points difference ahead of Terenure College.
Captain: John Lane
Scorers: Goals: David Kelly. Try: Jason Verdon.
Source: Final programme and press cuttings.
2002 McCorry Cup final — Won v Terenure College Won
2001-02 season
McCorry Cup (U19/U20) 2001-02. President D. Coleman; Captain J. Ellis; Coach J. Parkes; Assistant Coach A. McEvoy; Assistant Manager P. McLoughlin. Back row: P. Horgan, A. McEvoy, K. Potts, D. Kilbride, K. McInnerney, J. McInnerney, A. Copeland, P. Ryan, K. Stanley, S. Cusack, R. Andreucetti, J. Kennedy, A. Coughlan, G. Crawford, I. Masood, P. McLoughlin. Front row: B. Roantree, D. Burke, B. McCormack, S. Hicks, B. Lynn, D. Coleman, J. Ellis, G. O’Brien, K. Campbell, S. Nagle, C. Connolly, J. Parkes. (James Maguire Archive)
Captain: Jonathan Ellis
2004 Pennant League & All-Ireland Pennant Cup — Won Won
2003-04 season
The U20 Pennant XV, coached by Bobby O’Connor, won the Leinster Pennant League and then the All-Ireland Pennant Cup, and narrowly lost the Purcell Cup final. Philip Brophy, later a 2012 AIL winner, was vice-captain.
Captain: Ian Murray
2006 McCorry Cup final — Won Won
2005-06 season
2007 McCorry Cup final — Lost 11–12 v Blackrock College Runners-up
Monday 7 May 2007 · Energia Park, Donnybrook
Source: Leinster Rugby.
2010 J.P. Fanagan League decider — Won 10–7 v Dublin University Won
Sunday 7 March 2010 · Templeville Road
Not a final but the title decider: the win clinched the club’s first J.P. Fanagan League with a game to spare. Coaches Hugh Hogan and Conor McPhillips; manager Dermot Ferris.
Replacements: Rory O'Donovan, Sean Preston, Owen McGill, Francois Guiraud, Chris Lilly, Daragh Fitzgerald, Ross Wynn
Scorers: Tries: Ray Crotty, Francois Guiraud.
Source: Manager's report (Dermot Ferris).
2010 Purcell Cup final (U21 Pennant) — Lost 5–27 v UCD Runners-up
Sunday 2 May 2010 · Energia Park, Donnybrook
2011 Purcell Cup final (U21 Pennant) — Lost 15–19 v Naas Runners-up
Tuesday 3 May 2011 · Templeville Road
Captain: Alan McNamara
2011 McCorry Cup final (U21) — Lost 10–26 v Lansdowne Runners-up
Friday 6 May 2011 · Energia Park, Donnybrook
Route: 28–16 away to Old Belvedere, then 5–3 v Dublin University in the semi-final (try by Ryan O’Loughlin). Coaches Hugh Hogan and David Campbell; manager Dermot Ferris.
2011 J.P. Fanagan Pennant play-off final — Lost 13–22 v Lansdowne Runners-up
Tuesday 10 May 2011 · Ollie Campbell Park
The second half was delayed by half an hour by a floodlight failure.
Captain: Alan McNamara
Scorers: Try: Hugh McGovern. Conversion and two penalties: Colin Sheridan.
2015 Purcell Cup final — Won 30–10 v Dublin University Won
Sunday 26 April 2015 · Ollie Campbell Park, Anglesea Road
Route: walkover from Suttonians, then 43–17 v Greystones in the semi-final. Coaches Philip Lynch, Gareth Logan and Steve Bradshaw; manager Jack Ebbs. Completed a double with J.P. Fanagan Premier 2.
Replacements: 16 Craig Kennedy, 17 Jack Byrne, 18 Matt Timmons, 19 Keith Mannion, 20 Diarmaid Hickey, 21 Steven O'Brien, 22 Oisin O'Mara
Source: Leinster Rugby team sheet.
2017 Purcell Cup final — Won 21–16 v Old Belvedere Won
Sunday 9 April 2017 · Merrion Road
Club captain Darragh McDonald missed the final through injury. Niall Rynne, Leinster vice-president, presented the cup. Coaches Mark Sexton and Jonathan Garth; Director of U20 Rugby Dave Donohue; manager Gerry McCormack.
Captain: David Mathews (on the day)
Replacements: David McGill, Callan Carey, Robert Trew, Alexei Schuster, Cian Dalton, Jamie Kennedy, Hugh Fitzpatrick
Scorers: Tries: Sean McCahill, Michael McCormack. Conversion and three penalties: Derry O'Connor.
Source: Leinster Rugby team sheet and D. O’Brien’s report.
Read the match report →2019 Purcell Cup final — Won 28–9 v Old Wesley Won
Sunday 28 April 2019 · Lakelands Park
Half-time 16–6. Niall Rynne presented the trophy to captain Sean Heeran and club president Jack Ebbs. Senior coach Robert “Chops” Sweeney; Director of U20s John Muldoon; manager Vinnie Murray.
Captain: Sean Heeran
Replacements: 16 Niall McEniff, 17 H. McSweeney, 18 J. Shaw, 19 C. Johnson, 20 Gavin Potts, 21 Hugo Conway, 22 P. Masterson
Scorers: Sean Bourke 18 points (try, two conversions, three penalties); tries also by Hugo Conway and Jamie Coolican.
Source: Club match report.
2021 Purcell Cup final (pre-season) — Won 26–13 v Dublin University Won
Sunday 26 September 2021 · Lakelands Park
The U20s celebrate after the 2021 Purcell Cup final. (James Maguire Archive)
Route: 39–7 v Wanderers and 31–13 v Bective Rangers at Templeville Road. Coaches Brian McGovern, Eddie Devitt and Richard Andreucetti; management Peter McEvoy, Jack Ebbs and Vinnie Murray.
Replacements: Billy Hamilton, Eoin Silke, Jack McKenna, James Boland, Daniel Martinez Dunn, Max Ebbs, Jack Delaney
Source: Leinster Rugby team sheet.
Photo gallery →Every season we have found, with results and league tables from Leinster Rugby (2006-07 on) and the club's own records. Dark chips are trophy-winning seasons.
U20 Premier XV (U19 / U21 in earlier years)
U20 Pennant / Freshers XV
A few of the players whose club under-age rugby is recorded in our archive.
| Paul Andreucetti | 1971 McCorry Cup-winning captain; 19 Leinster caps (1971-82). |
| Fergal Campion | Scored all 12 points in the 1994 McCorry final; six Ireland U21 caps and Leinster honours. |
| Conor McGuinness | 1994 McCorry final captain; later Ireland and 1st XV captain (1998-99). |
| Jack McGrath | Club U21 squad 2009-10; Leinster, Ireland and British & Irish Lion. |
| Darren Hudson | Club U21 2009-11; Ireland U20 and Leinster. |
| Tom O’Reilly | U21 Pennant and Premier 2010-11; Leinster U20; club captain 2019-20. |
| Michael McCormack | Try-scorer in the 2017 Purcell final; Leinster A and AIL regular. |
| Hugo Conway | Try-scorer in the 2019 Purcell final; top AIL try-scorer 2022-23. |
Ireland & Leinster U20 call-ups
Players listed by Leinster Rugby as St. Mary's College RFC players when named in Ireland or Leinster U20 squads.
| 2015 | Leinster U20 v Munster | David Aspil, Terry Kennedy, Hugo Kean |
| 2015 | Ireland U20 squad | David O’Connor, Conor Oliver, Nick Timoney |
| 2016-17 | Ireland U20 training panel | Caelan Doris, Conor Dean, Jordan Larmour |
| 2018 | Ireland U20 (Six Nations & World Championship) | Caelan Doris (captain), Jack Aungier, Conor Dean |
| 2019 | Ireland U20 (Six Nations & World Championship) | Cormac Foley, Ronan Watters |
| 2025 | Ireland U20 Six Nations squad | Aaron O’Brien |
U20 match galleries in the James Maguire Archive on SmugMug.
Have a U20, U21 or U19 team photo, programme or result we are missing — especially the 2002 and 2006 McCorry Cup finals and the 2004 Pennant double? Please email archives@smcrfc.com.
Records & History
Honours are combined across both squads; results archives are kept separate per team (Freshers history includes the former "U20 Pennant" competition).
U20 Rugby — From the Archive
Newspaper reports, match programmes and photo galleries for the U19, U20 and U21 sides, from the club archive and the James Maguire photo archive. Click to open — the cuttings open as PDFs.
Press cuttings & programmes
Have a newspaper cutting, programme or photo we are missing? Please email archives@smcrfc.com.
Latest News
Match reports and news tagged for the U20s appear here automatically.