DEVON under-18 girls impressed in their first outing for two years as they travelled across the Tamar to Launceston for the opening 2022 County Championship competition.

This year’s South West county competition is played out over three separate tournaments between Devon, Cornwall, Somerset and Gloucestershire.

The Cornish leg of the competition saw the girls competing in an X10s style tournament.

Each county travelled with two squads and played six games each throughout the afternoon.

X10s is a format designed to provide maximum action for all the players, and that was certainly the case.

The game is played on half a pitch with eight minute halves, a very rapid one minute half-time break and a four-minute change over time between games. With six games in total, it is challenging physically, mentally and logistically. 

But the Devon players rose to that challenge quite convincingly. The “Devon Greens” comfortably secured four wins and just the one loss, which came against Gloucestershire’s first team, and the “Devon Whites” picked up three convincing wins. The whites narrowly lost to Cornwnall by just two points, equalling the home side on tries, and they were also beaten by Gloucestershire. 

The final scheduled game was a Devon and Somerset showdown with both teams up against each other. However, Somerset had picked up a host of injuries throughout the afternoon and were reduced to a total squad size of just 15 compared to Devon’s 30. The decision was made, by the players, to drop the final X10s match, in favour of the much-preferred, full 15s game.

Somerset may well have regretted this decision as Devon ran in three rapid tries round the fringes in quick succession and sadly, the game was abandoned due to further injuries. 

The Devon coaches were extremely proud of their squad and are very much looking forward to the next festival in a fortnight’s time, which will be in Somerset for a full 15s tournament.