Langley Park Boys 38 v 10 Bishop Wordsworth's

Daily Mail Under-15 Vase quarter-final

A SCHOOL'S under-15s rugby team is on the verge of playing in a national final at Twickenham after a thumping quarter-final victory.

Langley Park Boys School beat Bishop Wordsworth's of Salisbury at a canter to face Preston-based Hutton Grammar School in the semi-final of the Daily Mail Under-15 Vase.

Coach Tom Williams said: "We smashed them. We have been playing in fits and starts and this was the first time we have played properly, something we have been threatening to do for some time.

"We had all the play but they were good. They did not disgrace themselves."

He added: "But when things you have worked on over and over in training come off and work perfectly there is no better feeling for the players, coaching staff and supporters, and it was the story of the game."

Organised by the English Rugby Football Schools' Union the Vase caters for almost 160 teams who were knocked out in the early stages of the nationwide Daily Mail Cup.

Now the figure is down to four and Langley Park is among them.

To reach this stage Langley Park, in South Eden Park Road, Beckenham, beat St Dunstans College, Dulwich College, Warden Park School, Bexley-Erith Technical School and Brighton College.

The semi-final will be held at Castlecroft near Wolverhampton on March 19 while the final is on April 5.

Bishop Wordsworth opened the scoring with a penalty but Langley then started to attack and, roared on by a passionate home crowd, scored through inspirational captain Dean Connor.

The rest of the first half saw Langley batter the Bishop's line leading to a try by Matt Grannell.

Langley continued to attack before the Bishop's inside-centre caught an interception and ran 80m to score under the posts.

More Langley pressure followed, a shortened line-out take by Ed Minnett led to a clean break through the heart of the Bishop's defence by James Curr before he put Grannell under posts.

In the last minute of the half Connor turned down a penalty under the Bishop's posts and opted for a scrum.

The decision led the Langley Park head coach to have some choice words with his replacements and coaching team.

However, it was a brave and attacking move which led directly to a try by Tommy Bateman. Three of the tries were converted by Alex Brill.

The second half was spent in the Bishop's half never giving them an inch of time or space and there were two more tries by Kieran Mulholland and Curr, one of which was converted by Brill.