THEY have come a long way from their days playing for Ampleforth College Under-15s rugby union 'B' team together, but Lawrence Dallaglio and Guy Easterby are aiming to finish this year on top of the world.

The pair, pupils and team-mates together at the exclusive Catholic college, have trod different paths since leaving in 1989, but they could well arrive at the same destination in November in Australia. And joining them could be Guy's younger brother Simon, a fellow ex-Amplefordian.

From leaving Ampleforth, the Shepherd's Bush-born Dallaglio headed back to the capital to play for London Wasps, where he has remained for his entire career, while Easterby, from Tadcaster, remained in the area to play for Harrogate. He then headed across to Rotherham and then down to Wales, where he signed for Ebbw Vale before teaming up with his brother again at Llanelli.

International honours followed for the talented duo, but both could have represented different countries than the ones they do now.

Anglo-Italian Dallaglio could have represented the land of his father, before opting to stick with England, while Yorkshireman Easterby could have waited for his England chance to come along, but he decided take the route offered by his mother and play for Ireland.

Today both were on the bench for their country's opening RBS Six Nations games -- Ireland travelled to Scotland, while England entered France -- but with ambitions of World Cup duty, they are working hard to take their chance.

However, it seems strange that it took the pair until their final year at Ampleforth to finally break into the first XV, with Dallaglio at No8 and Easterby in the scrum-half jersey.

Dallaglio told the Evening Press: "To be honest, myself and Guy were in the seconds at Ampleforth and weren't good enough for the first XV, while Simon was younger than us but he was an up and coming player, who showed the skills he had.

"It wasn't until the final year that Guy and myself made it into the first team.

"I had played a bit of rugby before and it was when I got there that I really got involved in the game -- it is second to religion there.

"I was lucky to have some good coaches in John Wilcox and Frank Booth and to play alongside some good players.

"I didn't only get involved in the 15-a-side game there, but the seven-a-side version as well. We went down and won the double at the Rosslyn Park tournament in 1989 and that's where I really thought about the game seriously.

"John Wilcox suggested that I joined a club when I left, so I picked up a paper at the time and looked at the table. Wasps were top of the table so I decided to join them.

"In 1990 they had won the league and I wanted to be part of that. I had that ambition to succeed.

"Had it been Leeds, Leicester or Newcastle at the top then I could have joined them, but I suppose I was quite lucky it was Wasps being a London lad, but then again it could have quite easily been Rosslyn Park or Harlequins."

Dallaglio still has fond memories for the Easterby boys, and could even be lining up against them both on March 30 at Lansdowne Road.

"They both went quiet for a time after leaving Ampleforth and it wasn't until a couple of years ago that they exploded on to the scene with their club rugby in Wales," added Dallaglio. "It is good to see them both doing well for Ireland. They are fantastic players from a fantastic family."

HOPING to follow in the path of the Easterby brothers and Dallaglio are six of the area's finest, who have been called into the Yorkshire Under-20s squad.

It is one of the best turn-outs for a county side from the region for many years, and although some of the players have moved on to university or bigger clubs, it is here where they got their groundings in the game.

Henry Mitchell, Matt Webber and Richard Booth have followed the well-trodden route from Pocklington to greater honours, with Richard Pike, who was in the side last season, coming from the St Peter's school of rugby.

Also in the set-up for U20s County Championship are ex-Joseph Rowntree pupil Matthew Stockdale and Harrogate's Richard Davies.

Centre Booth, fly-half Mitchell, prop Webber, second row Pike and flanker Stockdale are all down to start tomorrow's opener at Penrith against Cumbria, with scrum-half Davies on the bench.

Stockdale now plays his rugby with the Leeds Tykes Academy, Mitchell and Booth play for Newcastle University, Pike is at Durham University, while Webber, whose brother Rob represented England U16s last season, is at Loughborough.

Yorkshire also face Northumberland (February 25, Northern RUFC), Lancashire (March 9, Wharfedale), Cheshire (March 23, Huddersfield) and Durham (March 30, Durham City).

Yorkshire will be hoping to qualify for the quarter-finals (April 12) and the semi-finals (May 3), with the final taking place at Twickenham on May 24.

THERE was a touching moment of cross-code respect this week, following the sudden death of Carl Neary during a game for York RI veterans.

Carl was a popular figure around the local rugby circuit, having played for Morley and Otley before returning to help York rise to the heady heights of North One and then on to RI.

However, even though Carl's first sporting love was rugby union, he was also a fan of the 13-a-side code. And Sunday's Powergen Challenge Cup match between York Knights RL and Doncaster Dragons at Huntington Stadium saw both sides and the crowd hold a minute's silence in tribute to Carl.

The sympathies of the Evening Press and followers of both codes of the game go out to Carl's family.

Malton and Norton have been left ruing injury time for the second match in less than a month.

The Gannock-based club had aspirations of a glorious double of promotion to Yorkshire One and success in the Powergen Junior Vase this season, but they could now be left with nothing.

Pat Stephenson's charges were denied a place in the last four of the Junior Vase, a competition they won in 2000/1, when they suffered a 22-20 against Yorkshire Three side Bradford Salem, having led 20-15 going into the final seconds with a penalty try settled the tie in Salem's favour.

The club accepted the defeat graciously, vowing to win promotion to soothe the wounds of defeat. However, these hopes now look to be in tatters after West Leeds inflicted a 19-16 reverse on them, with their winning try coming after 84 minutes.

Although the race to go up is not over yet for Malton, should they miss out they will look back at this moments in despair.

SCARBOROUGH'S Kiwi stand-off Marcus Edwards has been ruled out of the rest of the campaign with a knee injury.

That's bad news for Boro who are battling against relegation in North East Two and have struggled when Edwards has not played.

Updated: 09:20 Saturday, February 15, 2003