In the first game of the competition last Sunday, Blackrock cruised past their old rivals Terenure despite injuries that would surely have made things difficult for any other side in the competition.

Missing Irish centre Luke Fitzgerald, last year's out-half Ian Madigan and captain David O'Connor they still came out 28-0 winners. In truth, this was a Terenure side that was a shadow of the school's previous teams, though they fought gamely to keep Blackrock's backs at bay until the 59th minute. Prior to that, Blackrock only had three Aiden Wynne penalties on the scoreboard but once fullback Niall Morris claimed the first try by speeding past Conor Malone the game was sealed.

Vasya Artemiev got another five minutes later before Conor Crowley put a further coat of gloss on the scoreline with a try three minutes from the end.

With the three absentees expected to be back for the quarter-finals, Blackrock are acquiring that familiar sense of inevitability.

Champions Belvedere will not be losing sleep however as they completely overwhelmed Newbridge College 53-0 at Donnybrook on Thursday. Though the Kildare school had dominant spells of possession in the first half, Belvedere's unstoppable pack simply smothered them before the fluency of their backs kicked in after the interval.

Leading 15-0 through tries from David Gibbons and Eoin O'Carroll and a conversion and penalty from Michael Dufficy the floodgates then opened in the second half. Tries flowed from Eoin O'Malley, Johnny McDevitt, David Synott, Gibbons again and Jonathan Slattery - who claimed two - as Dufficy completed a fine display of kicking with a further four conversions.

It is Kilkenny College and Gonzaga who have the misfortune of meeting the two heavyweights in the quarterfinals, having both survived tight contests in their own firstround games. Gonzaga will meet Belvedere after holding off a Wesley fightback at Lakelands on Monday. Playing the better rugby, tries from James Gethings and Donogh O'Shea as well as a conversion and penalty from Shane Gahan gave the Ranelagh school a 150 lead by the early stages of the second-half. However, with out-half Henry Micks inspirational, Wesley worked their way back into the game and displayed the character that was evident in their Vinny Murray Cup campaign.

Richard Murphy claimed two tries, while a conversion from Micks left only three points with only five minutes to go.

However, Gonzaga displayed a strong nerve of their own by confining the Ballinteer school to their own 22 for the remainder of the match.

Bray sides St Gerard's and Presentation College - both tipped as outside challengers - were dumped out of the competition by Mary's and Michael's respectively, but not without displaying their credentials in two hard fought and entertaining matches. At Donnybrook on Tuesday, Michael's overcame Pres 33-19 though the Bray side - containing many of the team that reached the 2004 Junior Cup final - made them work until the end.

On Wednesday then, Niall Cowhey was central to an imposing performance by St Mary's as they cruised past St Gerard's 34-22. The out-half kicked six from six to put the Rathmines school in a commanding position although they were made to sweat late on as Andrew Whelan, Burschi Wojnar and Eoin Deveney got a try each.

Meanwhile, Castleknock College easily saw off the challenge of CBC Monkstown, winning by 30-0 at Donnybrook.

In the Connacht Senior Cup, favourites Garbally lived up to their billing as they annihilated St Brigid's Loughrea 60-7.

At Westport, Clifden came away with a 19-6 win against Rice while Sligo easily beat St Muredach's Ballina 38-0 at Heffernan Park. Sligo's young side however were knocked out of the Junior Cup in 10-5 defeat to Marist Athlone.