TWO York schools were eyeing success in the Daily Mail Rugby Union tournaments today having seen their teams blast through to the last eight.

St Peter's School have got their sights set on a national double, with both their U18s and their U15s having reached the last eight of their respective Daily Mail RU Cup competitions.

And Millthorpe School U15s have made it through to the quarter-finals of the Daily Mail Vase almost exactly a year after reaching the last eight in a national rugby league competition.

St Peter's U18s were due to face RGS Worcester at York today, while the U15s were taking on Old Swinford Hospital away from home.

The U18s reached their quarter-finals after triumphing 20-8 in a Battle of the Roses clash at Lancaster Royal Grammar School.

An early try by England U18 squad wingman James Marsden gave St Peter's the advantage and further scores from Mick Morris and scrum-half James Pang secured the victory.

Coach Richard Francis was looking for more of the same today.

"We scored early on, which was a big help, but it probably took 50 to 55 minutes for us to get the measure of RGS Lancaster," he said.

"Basically, we just wore them down and when the gaps started to appear, our backs were more incisive.

"We were fitter and stronger up front. We prepared well, played well on the day and handled the big RGS pack well."

Francis reckoned today's U18s match against Worcester would be close and, with the grammar side strong in the pack, St Peter's are hoping that putting the ball wide will pay dividends.

Millthorpe U15s, meanwhile, reached their quarter-final having produced an emphatic 33-7 defeat of Queen Elizabeth School, Hexham, in the last round.

Millthorpe exerted pressure from the start to oppose Hexham's strong pack and good football from the rucks gave Mark Wilson the chance to open the scoring in the corner.

The Millthorpe line absorbed several Hexham surges before the impressive Tom Stancliffe picked up from the back of a ruck and cut through the defence to score under the posts from 60 yards.

Stancliffe added another touchdown in the second half before Brian Wright scored the try of the game with his first of two, after driving for the line from a shortened lineout.

Hexham countered with a deserved try late on but with four Wilson conversions, Millthorpe had the game in the bag in what was described by coach Mike Boothman as the best win of the season.

Updated: 10:50 Wednesday, February 02, 2005