History
The first team in the College, coached by Fr. Noel O'Meara played at JCT level during the season 1968/69. They were a talented group who were runners-up in the Leinster Branch Section "A" Pennant and they on to reach the semi-final of the Junior Cup but unfortunately lost.
In 1973, the SCT coached by Fr. O'Meara, Paul Goff and Mick Glynn reached the semi-final of the Leinster Senior Cup and were beaten after a replay by Belvedere College.
For the rest of the decade we produced strong teams both at Junior and Senior Level that acquitted themselves well and that contained some great players who went on to excel at a higher level. In 1980 a strong JCT was narrowly beaten by Blackrock College who had been awarded what felt to have been a highly controversial try.
The 1980s were especially memorable as our JCT reached the Leinster Junior Cup final on two occasions. In 1980 under the tutelage of Fr. John Flavin and captained by John Cullen , Templeogue beat St. Andrew's 19-3, Terenure 6-4 and C.B.C Monkstown 6-4 and lost to Blackrock College in the final on a scoreline of 4-0. In 1985, captained by Michael Thornton the team made it to the final by beating Terenure 6-0, Gonzaga 10-3 and St. Mary's 16-6 before being beaten 15-8 by Castleknock. This team was coached by Mick Glynn, and went on to be very strong at senior level.
The 1983 senior team won all their friendly matches during that season but unfortunately went out of the Cup at an early stage. A senior seconds team coached by Mick Bolger won a league title in 1987/88. Rugby continued at all levels during the 90s without any significant successes in Cup competitions.
In the 90s, the u13s won the Dungannon Tournament on two ocassions. This event was held annually at Dungannon Royal School and was open to all schools in Northern Ireland with The Kings Hospital and Templeogue being invited from the Republic. Winning at this level augured well for the future of senior teams down the line. Our JCT captained by Kevin Kelly, won the inaugural Junior League in 1994/95.
The senior side of 2002/2003, having trained in South Africa the previous summer won the Leinster Senior League, beating the High School on a score of 10-3. This was the first senior trophy won by the school. The team was captained by Daragh O'Kelly (current teacher) and coached by Milo O'Shea and Mick Glynn.
This side were beaten by Belvedere College in the quarter final of the Leinster Senior Cup that February on a scoreline of 10-3 having dominated the game.
Touring
Fr. Noel O'Meara and Mick Glynn brought a senior squad on a tour for the first time to Glasgow and Edinburgh. We played two games and attended an International at Murrayfield between Scotland and New Zealand. Later, in the 70s, we went to Liverpool to play Cardinal Allen Grammar School and Widnes Sixth Form College.
At Widnes we Mark Wasenczuk, their coach and the link continued, playing each other every year both at home or away for more than twenty-five years. Fr. Ronnie Grimshaw also brought his junior side to Bristol in the 90s.
In 2002, we decided it was time to undertake our first "overseas" tour, with a strong group of players emerging at u16 and u17 levels.
It was of course a huge undertaking but with the co-operation of parents, staff, the boys themselves and the wider community it was achieved and proved to be an experience way beyond our initial expectations.
We spent three weeks in South Africa playing five matches. We lost the first game narrowly and won the next four. The first game was played at an altitude near Johannesburg and we had not enough time to acclimatise. We made no mistakes after that.
We started in Pretoria, stayed in Sandton, outside Johannesburg, drove south by bus to Mooi River, drove on to Durban and flew to Capetown. The experiences were memorable.
Three years later it was decided to organise another tour, with a promising side, this time to Argentina and Chile. Huge fundraising was undertaken by a small, committed group of parents and this group went on to contest a Vinnie Murray Final the following year.