ON Sunday, the Newton Abbot U14 ‘Invincibles’ – after almost two years unbeaten – went down in the Devon Cup final to Exeter Athletic at Athletic’s home ground at Oilmill Lane. There, RFU referees – bravely dressed as pink highlighter pens – awaited the teams on a pitch apparently only half-chewed by a herd of toothless pygmy goats. 

Hoping for it to be their golden chariot, the lads were collected at Teign school before the match by a deluxe bus generously funded by Select Motors. The team appeared to still be on the buses when they went down by two converted tries in the first six minutes of the final in front of a substantial and raucous crowd.

But Nat P was wide awake and retaliated with a characteristically strong sprint and try. Swiftly this was followed by a Jack L try under the posts for captain Ryan to convert. However, Exeter ended the first half notching a converted try for a third time, nudging their lead up to 21-12 going into the break.

For Newton the second half – apart from tries by Ryan and Jack H – was an ugly, staccato affair, just as Athletic had dreamt, with several extended stoppages for alleged foul play. Clearly Exeter had done their homework and ensured that the Newton players pressed all of their self-destruct buttons at once, losing both their heads and the match. 

The final score was 40-22 as Exeter took a punchy revenge for their defeat at Newton Abbot’s home ground just before Christmas which had ended 36-19 in favour of the All Whites. And congratulations to Athletic who played well and cunningly on Sunday afternoon, especially when Newton were charitable enough to go down to 13 players in the second half. Undeniably, the better team won on the day. 

Yes, they lost, and lost badly, but are in no way ‘defeated’. Hours after the match they were back out at Buckfastleigh kicking rugby balls around in between burgers and sausage baps at a party kindly put on by the coaching staff and parents. 

In the final the Newton thoroughbred showed up but apparently without its jockey or blinkers. As the team prepares for a new season and hopefully another successful cup run in 2024/25, this side’s dedicated and resourceful coaches will no doubt work out ways to tame tempers; to teach the lads to block out irrelevant parameters, to suck up the punches, and – something they did not have the capacity for before Sunday’s loss – learn how to exact, respectfully in the great and gentlemanly spirit of rugby, a cold and clinical revenge. 

Learn their lessons well, and humbly, then next year’s bus for these honest and hearty lads may well be an open-topped one.