Rules & Regulations

Chapter III: Schools Fixtures

Relevant Sub-Committee : Munster Schools Sub-Committee (MSSC)

Fixtures Secretary (FS): the person appointed by the MSSC to oversee and administer each competition

Coaches and mentors should be familiar with the IRFU LTPD programme (see Annex A.2)

A.1 Eligibility

The Munster Schools Senior Cup is a competition for qualified schoolboys, in the competing school, who are under 19 years of age as of the 1st of January in the school year in which the competition is played.

The Munster Schools Junior Cup is a competition for qualified schoolboys, in the competing school, who are under 16 years of age as of the 1st of January in the school year in which the competition is played.

A.2 A Qualified schoolboy is one who:

(a) Has, in the case of the Munster Schools Junior Cup, been continually in full regular attendance during school hours (except in case of illness) from the 1st of October of the current season and is registered in accordance with registration at schools under the Department of Education and Skills regulations.

(b) Has, in the case of the Munster Schools Senior Cup, been continually in full regular attendance during school hours (except in case of illness) and so registered at that school on the 1st of October in accordance with registration at schools under the Department of Education and Skills regulations.

(c) Is on the Department of Education and Skills October Roll Lists and is following the recognised Department of Education Syllabus;

(d) Is entered for the relevant Department Examination and is (or genuinely intends to be) in full regular attendance until the end of each academic year.

(e) In the event of a schoolboy being prevented by illness from maintaining full regular attendance during school hours, he shall not be disqualified if he can produce to the satisfaction of the Munster Schools’ Rugby Committee a Medical Certificate covering his period, or periods, of absence.

(f) In this Rule the words “full regular attendance” mean full regular attendance at the school from which the boy is entered. A player’s school is determined by where his P-pod No. is active and a P-pod No. can only be active in one school at any one time.

(g) In this Rule the terms Exempt and Non-Exempt shall take the meaning as accepted and as commonly acknowledged by the Munster Schools’ Rugby Committee.

A.3

In order to be eligible to play for any school in the Munster Schools Senior Cup, a player attending a Non-Exempt school must have been continually in full regular attendance during school hours (except in case of illness) at that school, for not less than 20 months prior to the commencement of the first round. A school may apply to the Rugby Committee under Article 4.13 to seek clearance for a player, who is otherwise ineligible to play, clearly detailing the special circumstances surrounding that application.
The RC will adjudicate on applications on a case-by-case basis. Article 4.13 decisions are final and subject only to an Appeal to the Branch.

NOTE: THIS RULE HAS BEEN IN EFFECT SINCE THE 1ST OF OCTOBER 2015

Any player who is selected by Munster Youths for that summer training program or who plays in the Youths Inter-Pro Series, cannot play for a non-exempt school in the Munster Schools Senior Cup.
Any player who is selected to represent Munster in the interprovincial Festival cannot be exempted from youths or schools competitions subject the rules and regulations of Munster rugby.

Organisation:
Each competition is administered by a Competition Co-ordinator and the Fixtures Sub-Committee (FSC)
Schools are expected in the common good to make every reasonable effort to fulfil their obligations on time. If a difficulty is imminent, this must be brought to the attention of the school affected, the Schools Committee and FSC as soon as possible IN ADVANCE OF THE DIFFICULTY.
If a school travels to an away fixture and the match is not played the rearranged fixture will be played as a home venue for the team who originally travelled.

Venues
Rockwell is included with Limerick schools for the purpose of rotation of the final.
The location of all matches will be determined by the AGCC, RSC and FSC in accordance with Article 5.
For Junior and Senior Cups qualifying leagues, school grounds are deemed home venues.

Fixtures
Properly signed and completed e-Teamsheets must be exchanged prior to kick-off.

General rules:
U14 games to take the format of 3/3 (17 mins each third) where 2/3 score counts and 1/3 the bench is emptied and score is not applicable. This is to ensure full participation. Starting players to be rotated on e-sports.

U15 (McCarthy Cup) A, B and C games, front row cover for the A team will more than likely start on the B team, for accurate figures to be produced, players must appear on one eteamsheet only. No front row cover may be listed on the A team sheet, but cover will be available from the B team and so on in the case of C teams.

Once a score reaches a 30 point difference, the game is to cease as a competition, the game is conceded and will continue in another format ( 2 x 10 aside games or 15 a side with restrictions on who can score, etc.). The remaining format for the game is at the discretion of coaches in agreement with the referee on the day (Subject to maximum time applicable to the fixture).

NB: (i) This will not apply to the Munster Schools Junior Cup.

(ii) If this criteria is not implemented, the MSSC may impose any of the sanctions listed in Article 16.

Replays

The only games that can be replayed are games in the Knock out stages of the Senior, Junior and McCarthy Cups and Bowen Shield. All other games must produce a result on the day.