Schools Rugby: St Peter's edge nail-biter

St Paul's hopes of crowning a superb season with a Twickenham appearance were dashed by a magnificent rearguard action from St Peter's in a nail-biting Daily Mail U15 quarter-final at Barnes.

'There had been so much commitment from both sides that Injury time stretched to 13 minutes,' said St Peter's coach Dave Pointon, 'but although we were put under huge pressure, my boys kept getting up to make tackle after tackle and that won it for us in the end. They showed great character.'

The Gloucester boys finally broke their quarter-final jinx, having lost five times to the eventual winners away from home in recent seasons. Fly half Mark Davies, younger brother of Bradley Davies, a St Peter's old boy who has made Gloucester's Zurich Premiership team this season, scored all their points.

Davies Jnr gave St Peter's a 3-0 half-time lead with a drop kick and then extended their advantage with a penalty before St Paul's set up a grandstand with a try five minutes from the end of normal time.

St Peter's repelled wave after wave of attacks, survived umpteen penalties, held up St Paul's on their line but the only points came from the boot of Davies with another successful penalty.

St Peter's travel to Castlecroft for a March 13 semi-final to meet the winners of Wednesday's game at Hinckley between John Cleveland and St Ambrose from Altrincham. In the other half of the draw, Queen Elizabeth Grammar School, Wakefield meet Northampton School for Boys on Wednesday and Sherborne face King's College School, Wimbledon on Thursday.