Yes, there are real concerns about the pressures exerted on young teenage rugby players, but the Leinster Schools' Senior Cup, which kicked off on Sunday, is a unique competition that cannot be all bad, argues broadcaster and pundit George Hook.Schools like Blackrock see the Senior Cup as an educational project which develops personal skills says Gavin Cummiskey

Conversations about rugby with Tony O'Reilly often turn to schools rugby and the doctor knight invariably wistfully reflects on his lack of a winner's medal for the Leinster Schools' Senior Cup. Sometimes as he waxes eloquently about the great days of under-age rugby, one wonders if he would not have, if offered, made a Faustian pact with the devil to climb up those steps at Lansdowne Road on St Patrick's Day over 50 years ago.

More boys certainly play soccer or Gaelic football and probably as many girls play hockey as are involved in the schools rugby competitions, but there is no comparison in the newspaper and television coverage.

It is unique in Ireland and the world. Harrow School in London, Kelston Boys in Auckland and Grey College in Bloemfontein would give their eye teeth for the coverage afforded to rugby-playing schools here between January and March.

The game, the competition and naturally the schools are delighted with the exposure, but what of the participants who make the event? There are real concerns about the pressure to perform exerted on young men. The Irish Times's rugby correspondents will name the villains as well as the heroes. The player who missed the vital conversion will merit the same amount of space and comment as the boy who landed the kick. The young man who pulled down O'Reilly in full flight to save the day for Blackrock in the final all those years ago is still remembered wherever old men gather to mull over past finals.

Today schoolboys train harder and longer than any other amateur rugby players. In some schools they are expected to practice twice a day and over the school holidays. Happily, those placed in control of teams have shown a caring attitude towards their charges.

The legendary American football coach, Paul "Bear" Bryant was quoted as saying that "Mama wanted me to be a preacher. I told her coaching and preaching were a lot alike." Not surprising, therefore, that Irish rugby owes an immense debt to the religious orders whose men gave huge amounts of time to coaching the game. Most of the priests had never played the game, but as teachers knew that the fundamental part of the game was passing and they taught the game accordingly.

The Holy Ghost fathers at Blackrock College have, over a century, produced some of the greatest school teams in the country. Men like Father Hampson, using techniques decades ahead of his time, and Father Godfrey demonstrating management techniques worthy of Alex Ferguson. Today the decline in vocations presents a crisis for the schools game. It is not that lay people are less good, but rather that they have less time.

There is no shortage of volunteers for the flagship team in schools. There is an increasing dearth of people to coach the lower and younger sides.

"The lunatic parent syndrome" remains a difficulty for all underage sport. I watched a parent of an eight-year-old who cried after being hurt in a tackle, threaten the infant with wearing his sister's dress when he arrived home. The late Father Corry, once threatened an abusive parent with the injunction: "He may be your child at home, but once he enters the gates of Willow Park he is mine."

There is a huge danger of bullying in school sport. The coach is all-powerful and the bad ones are often involved in working out their own failings on impressionable youngsters. Bryant, who was the most successful coach in US collegiate history, when he started at Texas A&M, wasted no time trying to reshape the failed team. His first pre-season camp was held in Junction, Texas, in the 100-degree heat. Bryant started camp with 111 players, but all except 35 quit within 10 days. Among Bryant's tests of toughness was banning water breaks for his players. One youngster almost died.

The best players in schools rugby can often face the greatest challenge at home. Many of them face grilling over dinner from over-ambitious parents.

One of the finest three-quarters of his generation faced a daily inquisition. Every error was highlighted and he was castigated for lack of effort. His rugby career was not damaged as he went on to achieve the highest honours in the game.

On March 17th, Lansdowne Road will be full of men sitting in the stands, wondering why one 17-year-old cannot hit another 17-year-old 20 metres away with a pass. Men who then go to the carpark and are unable to find the car.

Little or no research has been done on the effect of pressure on young people. The Department of Education agonises over the two weeks of the Leaving Certificate, but does no analysis of what happens over the other 20-odd weeks. Sport is a huge component of the school after-hours curriculum. Fewer children play sport and risk obesity and subsequent diabetes, while those who do play may have excessive demands placed upon them.

This morning all across America, 13-year-olds are getting up at 5am for basketball practice, while in Ireland children of the same age rise to go to a swimming pool.

Childhood is a short but crucial period in the life of man. It should be a period of nurturing, happiness and satisfaction. Bryant, strict disciplinarian that he was, understood that need. He believed that "there is no sin in not liking to play; it's a mistake for a boy to be there if he doesn't want to."

The ex-Blackrock boy Ruairi Quinn probably had newspaper mogul O'Reilly in his office when he was Minister for Finance some years ago. The conversation probably covered monopolies, corporation tax and share option schemes, but sooner or later it would turn to the piece of silver in the politician's pocket which the businessman could not match. The Schools' Cup cannot be all bad.

• George Hook presents The Right Hook on Newstalk 106

Schools like Blackrock see the Senior Cup as an educational project which develops personal skills, says Gavin Cummiskey.

Love it or despise it - the Leinster Schools' Senior Cup is upon us once more.

The column inches consumed by coverage may be disproportionate compared to those given to other under-age sporting competitions, but the intensity and excitement value cannot be refuted.

There is a seemingly insatiable appetite for senior cup coverage in some quarters. The sports section of this newspaper gets more enquiries, complaints and compliments about schools rugby match reports than any other event.

The elitism that pervades the schools game, especially in Leinster, cannot be denied. Schools rugby is hardly sport for the masses, yet neither is it the root of all evil in Irish society.

Several positives emanate out of the high-octane activities on view in Donnybrook over the next two months. Having coached both junior and senior cup teams, Blackrock College's first lay principal Alan MacGinty is well placed to explain the benefits for the students involved. And no, it is not just about winning.

"We see the cup as an educational project. It's a process through the season in terms of coming together as a group and developing personal skills, learning to work with other people. There is a lot of character development in it in terms of the students' ability to appreciate, to develop, to encourage the talents of others and to accept the rough with the smooth.

"I think that's a big element of it, for each of the major schools start out with the intention of winning the cup, but only one school can realise that ambition. That is part of the process, learning that in life you give of your best if you work in a team. You're not guaranteed success at the end of it, therefore it is the journey and the process that become equally important right from September through."

The upshot of a knock-out competition with such high stakes can be seen at international level. Players graduate year on year from the rugby nurseries around south Dublin, and in the case of current senior cup holders Belvedere, the inner city.

"The schools' cup hones a player's skills to allow them reach the level that enables them compete with the likes of Australia and New Zealand," said one former schools' cup winner who subsequently went on to be capped by Ireland. "It develops character, whether a person goes on to play rugby at a higher level or moves into a different career path."

The statistics back up such an assertion. The Leinster team that beat Bath recently to reach the Heineken European Cup quarter-final, contained eight players who first made a name for themselves in the schools' cup. Another five with similar backgrounds came off the bench.

At least 12 players on the Ireland Six Nations team will have been exposed to the pressure-cooker environment of big schools matches, be it in Munster, Ulster or Leinster.

It's a common perception that this competition has no rival in under-age sport worldwide. This is not true. High school American football, particularly in the west Texas City of Odessa, reaches superior levels of intensity. Over 20,000 people turn up to games every week. Towns go wild. The media follows suit.
Ten years into professional rugby, the schools game has become a pathway to a dream career. Most don't make it, but is education sacrificed in the pursuit of this goal?

Leinster hooker Brian Blaney, who left Terenure College in 2000, admits his Leaving Certificate results were hindered due to the professional standards he aspired to at schools' level.

MacGinty, highlighted the importance of teachers remaining involved in the coaching process. Despite producing potential senior internationals annually, the Blackrock policy still points towards an aspiration to a third-level qualification.

"It can be a very cruel sport. Suddenly your playing career can be over or at a certain level an injury can mean you are not able to play with the ability you had before. We would be very conscious with the very good rugby players to tell them 'make sure you go to university'."

Another aspect of the high stakes attached to success in the schools game is a widespread use of supplements, including creatine. Principals and coaches have a responsibility to ensure this is strictly monitored. Although very little elaboration is offered on the record, the elite schools are conscious of the need to be vigilant.

"We have a policy where we actively discourage the use of creatine," says MacGinty.

"A couple of lads were on creatine, but that was it. Nowadays a lot of the kids are on protein supplements - I didn't even know about it when I was in school," says Blaney.

Returning to a sporting context, another problem to rear its head with regularity in Irish rugby is skills development. While the knock-out format provides young players with an insight into the white-heat pressure of competitive sport, it equally leads to a do-or-die scenario that is hardly beneficial to player development.

This paradoxical situation looks likely to continue. Still, it all makes for enthralling viewing that is very hard to miss these days.