BLACKROCK boys aren't just sparkling on the rugby pitch this season as four former pupils of the school are members of the Kilmacud Crokes squad who will play Crossmaglen Rangers in the All Ireland Club SF final at Croke Park on March 17.

Cian O'Sullivan, Mark Vaughan, Mark Davoren and Niall Corkery are all adept at the oval ball, with the latter trio in action during the semi-final defeat of Corofin at Mullingar last Saturday.

Not for the first time 'blond bombshell' Vaughan received the man-of-the-match award for his scoring exploits and current 'Rock SCT manager Fr Joe Gough reckons that he could have made it big at rugby too.

"Mark was a first team regular behind the scrum from his time in our preparatory school at Willow Park right up until U14, at which stage he decided to concentrate on Gaelic football and soccer," says Fr Gough. "I've no doubt that he would have made the cup teams had he stayed with rugby and in fact even in his last year here, he was still outstanding when featuring on the seconds and thirds."

Before leaving 'Rock, Vaughan starred on the soccer team which beat St Patrick's Cavan in the All Ireland Schools Senior final. And while things haven't always gone smoothly for him with the Dubs, new boss Pat Gilroy could be the man to get the best out of this hugely talented performer.

Of the four, Corkery made the biggest impact at rugby, nailing down a place on the SCT at No 8 and two current SCT players, forwards Tom Parsons and Arthur Lyons, have also played with Crokes, with the latter good enough to be included in a Dublin underage hurling squad.

Kilkenny man Fr Gough is a big Crokes fan too and played with the club's senior hurlers from 1966-'72 during which time he lost out in two Dublin SHC finals. Gough, mindful of the fact that 'Rock won the Leinster Colleges SH title in the 1930s, also finds time to manage the school's U14 and U16 hurling teams and he's grateful for the assistance he gets from Crokes in honing their skills. Crokes personnel are also involved with the 'Rock U16 football squad.

Terenure senior coach Padraig Forde will also be taking a keen interest in Crokes' fortunes as he played football with the Glenalbyn club.

Oyuga quick to make impact for Belvedere

SPRIGHTLY Kenyan-born openside flanker Michael Oyuga is fulfilling the same role for the Belvedere seniors as emerging star Fulgence Quedraogo does for France.

Both rely on speed rather than strength when going about their duties and Michael is a fine role model for younger brother Conor, who did very well when sprung from the bench to also play at flanker as Belvo went down fighting, 17-13, to Terenure in the Junior Cup. However, one thing that is different about them is their surname as, in Kenya, the children alternate between the surname of their dad and mum, with Conor taking his mum's name of Owende.

Honduran-born Robles chasing league medal

ARIEL ROBLES will probably become the first Honduran-born player to win a Leinster Schools rugby medal if King's Hospital beat St Gerard's in the Senior League final scheduled for next Wednesday at a venue yet to be decided.

Robles is a handy centre on the KH team, which also includes two South African-born players in scrum-half and captain Peter Du Toit and his younger brother, flanker Brian. KH have won this title twice before, beating Newbridge 9-8 in the final in the 1996/'97 season and CBC Monkstown 14-5 in the decider seven years later. St Gerard's, who should have skipper and full back Jordan Egan plus scrum-half Robbie Glynn fit for the fray after injury, are bidding to win the competition for the first time, having lost to Gonzaga on their only final appearance in the 2004/'05 season.

- Declan Downs