Division 1 - Adamstown, Court Road, Crwys Road, St. David's, Grange, Wood St., Roath Park and Virgil St.

Division 2 - Metal St., Tredegarville, St. John's, Eleanor St., South Church, St. Peter's, St. Patrick's and Mountstuart Square.

Division 3 - St. Monica's, St. Mary's (Canton),  St. Mary's (Bute Tce.), St. Paul's, St. Alban's, St. Cuthbert's and Ely.

Only St. Alban's and St. Peter's have maintained this tradition unbroken since 1902.  The Cardiff R.F.C. gave full support, issuing complimentary tickets and allowing Cardiff Boys to play on the Arms Park every Saturday morning. The first inter-town match was versus Pontypridd, away, on March 21st, 1903, and the first home match versus Swansea a week later.  Prices of admission were: Stand - 9d (4p), Field - 2d (1p), boys half price.  Tea at Maskells Restaurant cost 6d (2p) per  head.  Cardiff S.R.U. took an active part in the formation of the W.S.R.U. in 1903.  The first Chairman was Mr. Swash (St. Monica's) and the Secretary Mr. Brown (Court Rd. School).  The Cardiff Club made a grant of £50 and also presented medals.  Grants of 30s (£1.50) were made to schools in order to purchase jerseys, shorts and boots.  In 1905 the Western Mail South Wales News made a present of a shield valued at £50.  This shield has recently been refurbished following bomb damage sustained during the Second World War.  It is currently valued for insurance purposes at £12,000.

Matches were played against Newport, Neath and Llanelli and in 1905 the first Rugby Union sports were held.  In 1906 the St. David's Shield was presented by the Catholic Young Men's Society.  In this season an Old Boys' Union was formed with over fifteen teams.  Two sections were formed, 14-16 and 16-18.  Whitchurch, Cogan, Victoria and Hawthorn Schools joined the Schools Union.  Up to 1913, records show the great work that went into sports organisation.  There was a continual financial struggle. There were frequent protests against referees, touch judges, crowds and even owners of fields where matches were played.  Between the wars, rugby football continued to develop strongly in Cardiff schools, particularly when High Schools chose it as a major winter sport.

The years since 1945 have seen still greater changes.  The Cardiff Boys' team play upwards of 30 inter-district matches per season.  Tours were made to Ireland, North Wales, Lancashire, Yorkshire and Scotland. In 1957 the Cardiff and District Schools R.U., for the first time in the history of the W.S.R.U., entertained two teams from Frankfurt and in September 1958 two Cardiff boys' teams visited Frankfurt and Heidelberg.  Return visits were made in 1960 and 1961. In 1973, Cardiff schools once more made history when they entertained and visited the Avia club of Brussels. The remarkable part of this venture was that the games played in Cardiff and Brussels were between town teams at 3 age levels - under 15, under 13 and under 11. The Tournoi Tom Morris initiated at this time was won by Cardiff Schools' and was successfully defended annually up to 1981, after this time Cardiff's fortunes in the tournament have been more mixed, and unfortunately due to age variations on the continent, we ceased playing in the tournament in 1997. The 75th Anniversary season 1977-78 saw a more ambitious and prolonged tour by way of celebration. From Brussels the party made its way to Paris, where several matches were played.

By the end of 1975, with the change in structure of Schoolboy Rugby in Wales imminent, it was decided by both the Under 15 and Under 11 Groups that they should become a separate bodies. The Cardiff Schools Under 11  Group has an enviable record in the Welsh Schools D.C. Thomas Cup competition. Since the Cup’s inception in 1970, Cardiff have been finalists fourteen times, and winners on seven occasions. In the WSRU Under 11 7-a-side championship, Cardiff has been triumphant on ten occasions since 1973. The Junior Group have always endeavoured to run ‘A’ and a ‘B’ teams and thus provide as many boys as possible with the opportunity of playing representative rugby. Since 1982, the Under 11’s have regularly travelled to Dublin to play Terenure College for the ‘Massey Cup’. When our Irish friends come over to Cardiff, it is to play for the ‘Millennium Cup’, which was inaugurated in 2000. The Under 11’s also play our great rivals and friends Pontypridd every Boxing Day for the ‘Les Spence’ Cup. In 1975 an East .v. West Wales Under 11 Schools match was instigated, and since this time Cardiff have regularly supplied a large contingent to the East Wales team. In 1980 Brian Wales became the first representative from Cardiff to become WSRU Junior Group Chairman. He has been followed in this position by Mike Rein in 1989, who was also elected Assistant WSRU Junior Group Secretary in the same year, and Mike Thomas who has the honour of being WSRU Junior Chairman for the coming 2002-03 season.

The 1980's saw more new ground covered when the under 15's made two successful tours to Ireland being hosted by the famous Garryowen club of Limerick.  In season 1983-84 the C.S.R.U. toured Scotland, playing matches against the border schools and East Lothian.  This venture was repeated in 1984-85 and again Cardiff boys were victorious, playing Preston Grasshoppers on the way home. In 1988, Cardiff under 15's were invited to represent the Lord Mayor of Cardiff in the Challenge LeCointre played in Cardiff's twin town, Nantes.  This has become another regular feature of Cardiff's fixture calendar, and in 1992 C.S.R.U. and S.N.U.C. were formally twinned. In May 1993 S.N.U.C. made its first visit to Cardiff with four teams. In season 1989-90, a successful tour was made by the under 15's to Italy and in 1990-91, to Canada; the first time that a Cardiff boys' team had travelled to the North American continent.  This was repeated in 1992-1993 when the boys travelled to the western seaboard of Canada to visit Vancouver, and Seattle in the U.S.A.

The 1997-98 season saw the Cardiff Schools Under 15 team play two County teams, Cheshire and Lancashire, whilst on tour in the north of England. This tour has now become an item during the February half term. At Easter 2000, we embarked on an ambitious tour to Ireland, for the first time playing three specially assembled provincial XVs. The rugby was hard but the welcome, as you would expect, typically Irish. In all these tours, the Cardiff boys have proved themselves to be worthy ambassadors of the Capitol of Wales, and in the process have gained many friends both on and off the field.    

With the re-organisation of schools and the raising of the school leaving age to 16, domestic leagues were introduced at Under 16, 15, 14, 13 and 12 level. Twenty-three secondary schools are affiliated to the Cardiff Schools' Rugby Union Intermediate Group and thirty-three schools to the Junior Group, offering some 150 teams the opportunity of playing competitive rugby.  This is in addition to games played within individual schools.

The town team (under 15) has at all times reflected the high standards of rugby played in the schools, and in the national inter-district competition for the Dewar Shield it has made a record number of appearances in the final, 31 in all, being successful on 20 occasions. Since 1904, two hundred and ten Cardiff boys have represented Wales at full international schoolboy level or as 'A' or 'B' internationals.  In 1992-93, following the move of international rugby to under 16, Andrew Grabham (Glantaf) gained international honours for a third consecutive year. Andrew also has the distinction of playing the highest number of games for the town Under 15 team, 51 appearances in all, from 1990-92.

Season 1971-72 will stand out as a memorable one. The town team was invincible, winning 26 out of its 27 matches and drawing the other.  It won the Dewar Shield for the 13th time and the Welsh Schools' seven-a-side tournament for the 3rd time.  It amassed 887 points with only 97 against. S. O'Donaghue (Llanrumney H.S.) set an individual points scoring record of 254 points, which has not been surpassed.  Also in this team was a certain scrum half by the name of Terry Holmes. The try scoring record of 32 tries in one season by Matthew Williams (Ysgol Glantaf) in 1992-93 was passed in season 1997-98 by Martin John (St. Illtyds) with 33 tries. In the same season the Cardiff Boys team set a new points scoring record of 1,087, whilst in the process of winning the Dewar Shield for the nineteenth time. In 1982-83 Cardiff won the Morgan Griffiths Trophy for the first time and repeated this achievement the following season.

In 1988 Corpus Christi H.S. became the first winners of the W.S.R.U. National Under 16 Cup competition.  In 1992 Ysgol Glantaf won the W.S.R.U. National Under 14 Cup competition.  This victorious Glantaf team went on to achieve the remarkable feat of winning the National Under 16 and Under 18 Cup competitions at their respective age levels in 1994 and 1996.  In 1995, South Glamorgan Schools' Under 15's won the Welsh Schools County Championship for the first time in its history. Fourteen Cardiff boys represented South Glamorgan in the final.

In season 1969-70, Mr. V. C. Phelps became President of the Welsh Rugby Union. 'Viv' first became an officer of the Cardiff Schools' in 1935 and continued in the Office of Hon. Secretary until 1955, and was Chairman of the Union in 1957-58.  In 1951, he was elected to the Office of Hon. Secretary to the Welsh Schools' Rugby Union, a post he held until 1973. At the end of season 1980-81, G. J. Donovan was elected Hon. Secretary to the Welsh Schools' Rugby Union. Consequently, he resigned as Hon. Secretary to the Cardiff Schools' Rugby Union, a post which he had held for 15 years, following on from 4 years as Treasurer.  He had also been Chairman twice, in 1965-66 and in our 75th Anniversary season 1977-78.  Sadly, in 1991, 'Gerry' died following a short illness. To many he personified Cardiff Schools' Rugby Union, and all those who knew him, boys, teachers and parents, are most appreciative of his efforts on their behalf.  In 1996 Reg Knight, the South Wales Echo Schools Rugby correspondent died following a long illness.  Reg was a great friend to Cardiff Schools and his presence will be greatly missed.

During the 1989-90 season Roger Goode (Cantonian) and John Griffiths (Willows) were appointed senior and assistant coaches, respectively, to the Welsh Schools Under 16 international XV; thus bestowing on Cardiff Schools the unique honour of having both national coaches.  Suddenly, and tragically, John Griffiths died in May 1995, thus depriving Cardiff and Welsh Schools of a great talent.  Beyond his coaching, 'Shwn', as he was affectionately nicknamed, also possessed a great sense of humanity and selflessness which marked him out as a truly outstanding individual.  His memory will live forever in the hearts of all the boys he coached in the Cardiff, South Glamorgan and Welsh schools teams.  During the 1991-92 season Roger Goode was elected as a selector to the Welsh Schools Under 16 team, thus achieving the dual distinction of being an international coach and selector. Roger's contribution to Cardiff Schools, South Glamorgan Schools and Welsh Schools is quite immense and schoolboy rugby owes him a great debt of gratitude. In 1998, in recognition of his outstanding contribution to schools sport, Roger was chosen as the Welsh Sports Council Junior Coach of the Year. Disappointingly Roger failed to be re-elected as coach at the end of the 1999-2000 season, thus bringing to an end an envious international record of having played twenty six, won twenty two, drawn one and losing only three matches.

The end of season 1982-83 witnessed the retirement of Peter Cronin (Fitzalan) who made such a contribution to the development of rugby in the city.  Peter always had the interests of the boys at heart. In 1989 he graciously accepted the post of President which fell vacant on the death of Les Spence. At the end of the 1999-2000 season, Peter had to stand down from being our President on the grounds of ill-health. He remains the embodiment of all that is good in schoolboy rugby and all his former colleagues and friends wish him a happy, healthy and active life for many years to come. In 1985 the Cardiff R.F.C. presented a trophy in memory of Mr. Hubert Johnson, to be awarded to the outstanding player in terms of character and commitment.  The first recipient was Matthew Lloyd of Lady Mary High School. Due to work and family commitments, Phil Davies (Fitzalan) had to stand down in 1996 as Secretary of this Union. Phil took up this position in 1981 and we thank him most sincerely for all his efforts on our behalf.

Easter, 1999, saw the Town Under 15 team taking part in the International Festival of Youth Rugby Tournament held in and around Edinburgh, Scotland. The final was played on the hallowed turf of Murrayfield, and a very fine victory was achieved against Worcester RFC. The whole venture was a resounding success and something that we as a Union would dearly wish to repeat if the opportunity arose again in the future. In 2000 a Cup was presented to Cardiff Schools, to be played for by the Under 12’s, in honour of John Nelson, the then Cardiff RFC secretary who tragically passed away earlier in that year. John was a true gentleman and a great supporter of schools rugby within the city. Season 2001-02 saw Les Good become Chairman of the Welsh Schools Rugby Union Intermediate Group. Les is a tireless worker for schoolboy rugby and it is fitting that he should hold this prestigious office in the Union’s centenary season, since the very first Chairman of the WSRU, Mr. A. Swash, was also from this Union. Les was also instrumental in setting up the Cardiff Schools Under 15 ‘B’ team, which performed outstandingly in its first season (2001-02) to reach the semi finals of the Dewar Shield.

It is a very long time since the inaugural meeting of the Cardiff Schools' Rugby Union took place in December 1902. Those 20 gentlemen inspired the boys to play the game the "Cardiff Way". They started a tradition in which memories live and their policies endure. We, both masters and boys, who are now custodians of this tradition and heritage need to say "Diolch yn fawr iawn" and express our thanks by continuing to play the game of rugby in the spirit and enjoyment of our forebears all those years ago.