Okehampton RFC U15 12,

Ivybridge RFC U15 51

A clinical display of good team rugby gave Ivybridge a well-won victory in difficult conditions.

With Ivybridge only having 14 players available, Okehampton agreed to a 14-man-per-side game, although both sides ­fielded new players and had some playing out of position.

With a sloping pitch and a strong wind to their advantage, Ivybridge soon took the lead with tries from Alex and Matt B. Alex kept the ball in the Okehampton half with good positional kicking, claiming two tries for himself. He also delivered a lovely chip to the corner for Matt B to gather, sidestep and score.

It certainly wasn’t all Ivybridge, as Okehampton responded with two good tries.

The first half was concluded with another penetrating kick from Alex. Tommy raced to the ball and tackled his opposite number, allowing Taylor to gather and score.

With a mere 12-point lead Ivybridge would have to work hard to manage the second half – and so they did. Their ball handling was excellent, using short, crisp passing.

The boys put together a great team display: the forwards ­contained the Okehampton surges and the runners took their opportunities.

Seb took a lineout ball, broke through the line and powered over for a try. Matt B was stopped inches short of the line, but he flicked up a pass for Seb to score again.

Oscar finished off a looping run with a spectacular dive and Taylor scored the last Ivybridge points with a long, straight run from an interception.

Devon Cup

Cullompton RFC U13s 7,

Ivybridge RFC U13s 10

Ivybridge triumphed in this tough away fixture against a previously unbeaten Cullompton side. This was always going to be a competitive match, with two of the best U13s sides in Devon being drawn against each other in an early round of the Devon Cup.

The titanic battle of the forwards was edged by Ivybridge, who counter-rucked brilliantly, winning good ball for their backs. With the wind in their favour the first half Ivybridge were putting Cullompton under considerable pressure.

There was pace aplenty in the Cullompton side and on a large pitch they were always going to be dangerous with ball in open play.

This pace led to Cullompton’s try as their centres found space in the midfield for their winger to skin his marker and run in from the halfway line, with this early try being duly converted.

Ivybridge were spurred on by this early adversity: led by Ewan Stephens and Jacob Winters in the forwards, they turned over ball for Archie Bryan to run at the Cullompton defence.

Initially the defence held firm, but after several phases and good recycled ball Bryan was able to use his pace and power to charge over. Edward Epps converted.

In their enthusiasm to ­counteract Ivybridge’s strong rucking, Cullompton gave away a number of penalties for entering the ruck from the side – and once in range, Epps was able to calmly slot over for three more points and a 10-7 half-time lead.

The second half was nip and tuck. Hamish Harris and George Barnes were working very hard with some good driving runs and Solly Stinchcombe’s power helped wrest the initiative from Cullompton at the breakdown.

Ollie Gozzard was safe under the high ball and Thomas Pringle tackled strongly ­whenever needed.

George Shirley and Jack Currie controlled the back of the scrum well as Ivybridge ­continued to try to play running rugby.

Cullompton’s most impressive player Joe Blackburn had a couple of great runs and nearly crossed Ivybridge’s line, only to be thwarted by an excellent cover tackle by Arche Bryan near the end.

Ewan Stephens had to come off right at the end for an injury, but Ivybridge held on for a well-deserved win.