BLACKROCK COLLEGE set about trying to emulate last year's Leinster Schools Senior Cup "dream team" with a second round obliteration of League winners King's Hospital at Donnybrook yesterday.

At this time every year much is made of the gulf in standard between Leinster's top six schools and the best of the rest. Yesterday's fare served to further illustrate this gap.

King's Hospital had never beaten Blackrock in the Senior Cup and within four minutes this looked a most improbable scenario. Right wing John Phelan and flanker Neil Coughlan had already come within a whisker of crossing the line when serum half Ciaran Scally dipped his shoulders to bulldoze over under the posts.

Schools international Dara Kavanagh was absent due to a shoulder injury, leaving his Ireland team mate Brian O'Driscoll to assume the place kicking responsibilities. Kavanagh needn't have fretted. O'Driscoll kicked the first simple conversion and subsequently landed two more conversions and two penalties, with only two shots at goal missing the target.

An Ernie Henderson penalty for King's Hospital was followed by O'Driscoll's first such success, and then blindside flanker Andrew Brown was on hand to reap the reward of copybook approach work by prop Niall Treston, Scally and O'Driscoll. O'Driseoll added the points and his second penalty shortly afterwards to give Blackrock a 20-3 lead with only 20 minutes played.

Henderson temporarily derailed Blackrock's momentum when making an intuitive interception on the 40 metre line on his way to King's Hospital's only try.

Not that anyone in the crowd, thought this would affect the outcome. The Blackrock international trio of Scally, O'Driscoll, and in particular Coughlan, were central to their side's game plan. Coughlan's 33rd minute try was converted by O'Driscoll to leave the scoreline 27-8 at the break.

Henderson's early second half penalty was over ridden by two Blackrock tries from Treston and a bewildering individual effort by centre Andrew O'Neill. He took the scenic route to the right corner by making an outside break near the left touchline before cutting right on a diagonal run from inside his own half.

Thereafter, Blackrock went through the motions in what was a sobering afternoon for King's Hospital. This may not have been the dream team but it was certainly a good enough display to send a shiver through the rest of the cup pretenders.