‘I was in the Lansdowne Road dressing room getting sick I was so pumped for the game’

IAN KEATLEY RECALLS the day vividly. How could he not? Even now, as a Munster centurion and five-time capped Irish international, it still ranks as one of his proudest on a rugby field.

Thirty-three years. History. Triumph. Black and white. Only in God. Belvedere.

The Belvedere team sing the school anthem in front of their supporters. Source: Billy Stickland/INPHO

“It was the be-all and end-all,” he reflects. “You’ve no idea how much it means to absolutely everybody; teachers, pupils, past pupils, parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles.

“You’re going through school from first year up, you’re constantly looking up at the older guys and that’s all you ever want to do. You want to be on the SCT team and win the Senior Cup.”

St Patrick’s Day, 17 March 2005.

Blackrock were the favourites that day. They were the defending champions and had a special team, one which was widely-expected to deliver title number 65 for the school. Luke Fitzgerald was the standout player, but Ian Madigan (a fourth year at the time), Niall Morris, Vas Artemiev, Dave Moore, Cian Culleton, Paul Ryan and Zach Farvivarz — all of whom would turn professional — were all prodigious talents.

Belvedere, without a Senior Cup crown since 1972, had beaten St Andrew’s, Gonzaga and St Mary’s en route to the final but their form had been inconsistent throughout the year and this was their first appearance in the showpiece for three years.

“We were such underdogs,” Keatley tells The42. “We’d done okay, won a few games but had lost a good few games too. We’d lost to ‘Rock by a good bit that year, I can’t remember the points but they were seen as an unbelievable team. Back then they were all big names and we weren’t.

“We weren’t talked about or recognised but that was the great thing about our team. We didn’t see ourselves as superstars or anything, we just saw ourselves as a really good team who worked hard for each other.”

Keatley was the out-half with Paul O’Donoghue, the former Connacht and Leinster scrum-half, operating inside him at nine. Eoin O’Malley was the key figure in midfield and the pack was built around Cian Healy, captain Robert Carson and Cathal Pendred, who would go on to make a name for himself in Mixed Martial Arts.

Keatley kicks a penalty during the 2005 final. Source: Billy Stickland/INPHO

“There was this weird belief, and I don’t know where it came from because as I said we hadn’t done that well that season,” he continues. “Andy Kenny and Steve Gibbons brought in sports psychologists in the build-up to the final which was just unheard of.

“They talked about that pressure of not winning the Cup in 33 years and how to handle that pressure. It was just unheard of in schools rugby but we just had that belief going into it, our paths had been set out and it just kind of worked out for us that year.”

As was tradition, the players were introduced to the rest of the school on the morning of the final before been given a send-off from Great Denmark Street as they headed across the Liffey towards the old Lansdowne Road.

For 30 young guys, it was the biggest day of their fledgling careers and, for many, it would be the pinnacle. The sense of occasion was huge.

“We have an Astroturf on the roof and we went up there to run through a few plays,” Keatley recalls. “All the mums used to come in and cook us our pre-match meal and I remember going into the gym in front of the whole school. Everyone was wearing their jerseys and it hit you then.

“We’d always put the speech from ‘Any Given Sunday’ on when we were on the bus for our Cup games. We had that playing and actually Rassie [Erasmus] played that for us leading into the Cardiff game recently. I hadn’t heard it in a while and it does touch a nerve or soft spot. I always think about that day when I hear it, even though it’s 12 years ago now.”
2.55pm. Five minutes until kick-off.

All the build-up, all the talk, all the pre-match traditions and formalities are nearly complete. 15,000 people, including family and friends, are waiting outside in anticipation. The last six months have culminated in this moment; the Leinster Senior Schools Cup final.

A crowd of 15,000 were in attendance for the 2005 final. Source: ©INPHO

Deep down inside Lansdowne Road’s West Stand, under the Dart line, the teams wait to be called from the dressing rooms. It’s the first year the showpiece event of the Schools Rugby calendar is live on TV, with Setanta Sport carrying coverage.

“We were ready to come out,” Keatley explains. “You could hear the train going over above and I remember we were told to go back in for another five minutes because of TV timings.