The stage was set at Sandy Park for the biggest night of the season — the Varsity clash between Exeter and Durham, two giants of BUCS Super Rugby whose rivalry runs deep. The lights blazed, the sky cried, and a packed crowd braced for another chapter in this storied duel.

For Exeter, this wasn’t just another fixture; it was a reckoning. The memory of last year’s heartbreak — defeat to Durham on home soil, in front of their own fans, on this very stage — still lingered in the Devon night air. Now, unbeaten and brimming with form, the Green Army returned to the same arena, carrying the weight of both expectation and unfinished business.
Durham entered as the only side to have truly haunted Exeter’s Varsity in recent memory, and though form tilted the odds toward the hosts, the ghosts of Sandy Park would not be easily exorcised. It was a night for redemption, resilience, and rivalry renewed — the champions-elect against the perennial challengers, in a game that promised nothing less than thunder and theatre.

It was an intense opening ten at Sandy Park, with the men in green feeding off the energy and electricity of a 5,000-strong home crowd. The roar inside the ground built with every carry, every tackle, every contest in the air — a rolling wave of noise and expectation driving Exeter forward.

Exeter largely remained on the front foot, pinning Durham deep inside their own half and forcing errors through relentless pressure. The first breakthrough came after Durham fly-half Patrick Keaveney misjudged his field position, sending the ball directly out on the full and gifting Exeter the perfect platform to launch their first real attack. From the resulting lineout, the ball was worked into midfield where an onrushing Ollie Miall proved simply unstoppable — crashing through the line and bruising his way over for the opening try.

The hosts had to wait for their second, as the rain-soaked conditions meant the ball refused to stick to either team. Handling errors crept in for both sides, and the battle became one fought in the air. Exeter’s back three handled the kicking duel superbly, keeping the territorial advantage and forcing Durham to defend in their own 22 for much of the half. Yet it was on the ground where Exeter’s forwards inflicted real damage.

On 32 minutes, a driving lineout maul rumbled ominously towards the line, and hooker Tyler Bayley emerged from the heap of bodies to touch down and double the lead. The roar from the Sandy Park stands was deafening — and the momentum only swelled further.

Barely a minute later, Exeter rode their wave of momentum to strike again. Inside centre Nic Allison threaded a series of clever kicks in behind, keeping Durham scrambling and unable to reset. The pressure told, as winger Noah Fenton regathered possession from the clearance and turned what looked a routine carry into something spectacular — breaking through four would-be tacklers to storm over the line, leaving Durham’s defence for dead. It was the kind of try wingers dream of, and in front of a sold-out Sandy Park, it sent the crowd into rapture.

With confidence flowing, Exeter weren’t finished yet. They saw blood before halftime and struck again with clinical precision. This time, the centres combined: a simple blocker pattern, with Ben Coen drifting out the back and Ollie Batson running a crushing hard line. Inside centre Nic Allison drew in defenders and released a perfectly weighted short ball to his outside centre Ollie Batson, whose cutting line split Durham’s overly drifting defence. Batson sliced through untouched to score beneath the posts, and Ben Coen’s flawless conversion stretched the lead to 28–0.

By the break, Exeter had turned patience into punishment. Four tries, complete control, and a Sandy Park crowd roaring them down the tunnel — the ghosts of last year’s defeat were fading fast.

HALF TIME: EXETER 28-0 DURHAM

Exeter began the second half as they had finished the first — ruthless, composed, and utterly relentless. Eleven minutes after the restart, substitute Kian Gentry made an instant impact, introducing himself with a moment of individual brilliance. A sharp fend, a gliding step, and a deft flick out the back found Noah Fenton waiting on the wing, who finished acrobatically in the far corner for his second of the evening.

The replacements continued to make their mark. On 63 minutes, replacement scrum-half George Newman was next to strike, capitalising on loose ball from another powerful Exeter surge. Picking up the scraps off Kian Gentry’s feed, Newman darted through from close range to touch down — stretching the lead beyond forty points and tightening Exeter’s grip on the contest.

For Durham, the night was fast turning into a nightmare. Bodies tired, tackles slipped, and the spark that had fuelled so many of their spirits faded under Exeter’s unrelenting pressure. The men in green smelled blood and showed no mercy.

On 75 minutes, full-back Jed Findlay decided he too wanted a share of the spoils. After slick interplay down the right, Fenton - despite being on a hat-trick - unselfishly shifted the ball wide to his full-back, who squeezed into the corner to add another five points to the tally. It was clinical, composed, and devastatingly efficient.

By now, Sandy Park was in full voice. The rain still fell, but nothing could dampen the roar of 5,000 fans as Exeter’s dominance reached its crescendo. This was not just a victory — it was an exorcism of last year’s heartbreak; a calculated dismantling of the side that had once haunted them.

Durham did find a consolation in the dying embers, crashing over on the stroke of eighty to ensure they didn’t leave empty-handed. But the contest had long since been decided. It was far too little, and far too late.

Under the floodlights of Sandy Park, Exeter stood tall — ruthless, unyielding, and redemptive; they had faced their ghosts and buried them. The green army walked away still unbeaten, still undisputed, and still perched firmly atop the mountain of BUCS Super Rugby.

FULL TIME: EXETER 47 – 7 DURHAM