No win for Exe in Purple Rain

Durham 36 Exeter 20: Twickenham will have to wait another year


Exeter’s rugby heroes fell at the semi-final hurdle last night as they succumbed to a Durham side who now look forward to their third BUCS championship final in three years.

The hard-fought game between the two rugby powerhouses finished 36-20 to Durham at a grim and rainy Durham City Ground.

The Tab was hoping for a little more from the photographer

That means the boys in purple will go to Twickenham in a fortnight looking to win the BUCS rugby union championship for a second time in three years.

Exeter’s 1st XV traveled to Durham in high spirits after overcoming old foes Loughborough 50-31 at home last Wednesday.

But things did not start well for our boys as they conceded a try within four minutes of the match starting. A second try two minutes later put Exeter 14-0 down before they’d had time to catch their breath.

A lone penalty aside, it was 30 minutes into the game before Exeter put any meaningful points on the board, and half-time came with the score at 31-10.

Exeter rallied after half-time ate into the Durham lead as both sides saw men sin binned. Exeter No. 8 Fraser Bashford bagged a try as he crashed through several Durham tacklers to score under the posts. Full-back Ali Chrisholm put more points on the board through his magic boot.

It wasn’t enough though as Durham held on during a tense final ten minutes. Despite Exeter’s best efforts, the home side managed to kill off the game by putting their captain over for a  final try.

Durham will now play Cardiff Met in the final at the home of rugby.