School's out for Ballinasloe bolter Matthew Devine

Matthew Devine’s last day of school was March 11, 2020. He didn’t spend it in Garbally College but at a cold and wet Sportsgrounds playing in the Connacht Senior Cup final

Ireland's Matthew Devine. Picture: INPHO/Ben Brady

Few of us forget our last day in school. Whether it’s the shirts and journals being signed with declarations of unending friendship, or the celebrations later in the evening, it’s a rite of passage and one of life’s most symbolic moments.

Matthew Devine’s was March 11, 2020. He didn’t spend it in Garbally College but at a cold and wet Sportsgrounds where, as scrum-half, he was pivotal to the institution as it claimed its first three-in-a-row of Connacht Senior Cup titles in over two decades.

Days don’t get much better. His younger brother John was part of the same backline and Matthew claimed the first try as Garbally shot into a 14-0 half-time lead. That they had to hang on against a fierce Sligo Grammar comeback only sweetened the pill.

“It was a horrible day but it’s a great memory to have leaving the school,” he said.

The weather wasn’t the only dark cloud on the horizon. Ireland’s first Coronavirus fatality had been recorded earlier that week and 43 cases were confirmed that very evening even as the Garbally lads soaked up their success.

The Taoiseach Leo Varadkar addressed the nation from behind a lectern in Washington a day later and announce the closure of schools, colleges and childcare facilities. The plan was to shut the doors and gates for two weeks. If only.

Rugby retreated into hibernation just like the rest of the country and, of all the four Schools Cup deciders, Connacht’s would be the only one to be completed that year. Devine, in that narrow sense, had been lucky but other ambitions would be stifled.

Both Matthew and John had been chosen for Ireland U18 squads five months before. Matthew got as far as a couple of training camps with the Schools side, John actually won a cap with the Club selection, against Italy.

“He loves telling me about that,” said the older of the pair this week.

Matthew finally got his chance with a starring role for the Ireland U20s in Musgrave Park last Friday when he again scored a try and the home team put over 50 points on Wales in their Six Nations opener.

His partner at out-half was the impressive Charlie Tector.

The pairing is an interesting one for reasons beyond talent. Tector is a Wexford native, a Rathnure man whose rugby journey started with Enniscorthy RFC before he turned out for Kilkenny College and linked up with Lansdowne.

The club name next to Devine’s on a matchday programme is Galwegians but the Connacht nine is a Ballinasloe man and it was there that he started out playing the game before continuing his journey with Garbally and beyond.

That the U20s are being piloted by a pair of players from areas not seen as traditional breeding grounds is nothing but positive although Devine’s background was always likely to point him towards a pitch of some kind.

His dad Mike won an All-Ireland U21 football medal with his native Offaly in 1988, played for a brilliant Buccaneers team in the 1990s and once scored a hat-trick for Connacht against Munster.

“My dad would have brought me up and coached me from a very young age. I would say I was seven or eight. Up until U18s. He was one of my coaches in Garbally College as well, from 13 onwards to my Leaving Cert.

“We’ve seen a lot of players in recent years come from Garbally and Ballinasloe and it’s such a small town. So that’s pretty impressive but it’s because of the underage structures that we had and all the good coaches we had all the way up.”