Blackrock College, the school, have amassed over £80,000 in fundraising activities, to help defray the costs of a 40-pupil squad travelling to the Southern Hemisphere this summer. This excellent effort by those involved means the cost to the pupils is about £1,000 for what constitutes a serious rugby undertaking.

Blackrock will play against five of the top rugby schools in New Zealand as well as a match in Australia that facilitates them taking in a Lions test. In order to guarantee their competitiveness, the Dublin school are taking the squad which was narrowly beaten in this season's Leinster Schools Senior Cup final by Terenure College and the majority of next season's SCT hopefuls. The party will he headed by coach and school principal Alan McGinty.