St Benedict's School, Ealing are through to the quarter-finals of the Daily Mail National Rugby Cup after a hard-fought 20-16 win over Whitgift School from Croydon.

It is a tremendous achievement for a team which had already surpassed pre-season expectations by getting this far in the competition.

Saints gained the upper hand when fly-half Ross McIntosh carved open the Whitgift defence to send centre Matt Dever through under the posts. Stuart Pearham, who had earlier landed a penalty, successfully converted. A score right after the kick off provided the perfect start to the second half for the Ealing side. Ross McIntosh charged down a clearance kick and quick hands fed the ball through to flanker Jamie Harries who scored under the posts. Stuart Pearham posted the conversion, 17-3.

Whitgift hit back with a converted try of their own but Charlie Jewers calmly slotted home a penalty to make it 20-10 after Pearham had retired injured. Saints held on in a gruelling final 14 minutes after conceding two penalties to bring the margin to within one try.

St Peter's of York are the quarter-final opponents - that tie taking place in Ealing on February 11.