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SEVERAL MEMBERS OF the team who won the Leinster Schools Senior Cup in 2005 went on to become professional sportsmen, but not just in rugby.
While the likes of Cian Healy, Ian Keatley, Eoin O’Malley and Paul O’Donohoe pursued full-time careers in the game, second-row forward Cathal Pendred followed a different path.
Pendred swapped rugby for mixed martial arts after stumbling upon an MMA gym while spending a summer in San Diego, and today he’s one of Ireland’s top UFC stars.
The 27-year-old welterweight is currently preparing for his next bout, which will take place in Mexico City on 13 June when he takes on Augusto Montano.
Cathal Pendred wins a line-out during the 2005 Leinster Schools Senior Cup final. Source: MTV.co.uk
Pendred will fly to the Mexican capital in the morning for some promotional duties ahead of the fight, but as soon as he lands he’ll be searching for news of the Leinster Schools Senior Cup final between Cistercian College Roscrea and Belvedere College — his alma mater.
“It’s great that they made the final 10 years on from when we won it, but it’s unfortunate that I can’t be there,” said Pendred. “There’s a dinner being organised for the players and parents of the 2005 team for the weekend after next though, so I’m looking forward to that.”
Playing against a Blackrock College team that included Luke Fitzgerald, Ian Madigan, Niall Morris and Vasily Artemyev — the Russian wing who went on to play for Northampton Saints — Belvo ended a 33-year wait for the cup with a 16-10 win in front of a crowd of 15,000 at Lansdowne Road.
“It was a massive deal,” Pendred recalls. “It was like playing in a World Cup I suppose. That’s what it feels like when you’re 17. It was huge, especially because Belvo hadn’t won the cup in 33 years up until that point.