It had a bit of everything. Tries, tension and one of the best atmospheres Topsham has ever experienced. In the end, the fortress held firm, as Exeter secured a pulsating 44-33 victory over Cardiff Met to secure a spot in the BUCS final for the first time since 2017.

With Topsham packed to the rafters and the livestream camera crew in town, a large number of the squad were playing their final home match in the green and white hoops and boy did they do themselves proud.

Last Wednesday’s victory over Hartpury proved that Exeter could tough it out when they need to but playing against a Cardiff Met side buoyed by the high of their Cardiff Clash victory in their quarter-final, this match would prove to be a completely different proposition.

On an afternoon filled with emotion and high drama, Exeter scored five tries through Sam Higginson, Jordan Bond, Will Yarnell, Arthur Thomas and Tom Eelman, with Alec Lloyd-Seed adding 19 points from the tee in a near-immaculate kicking performance.

With both sets of supporters in fine voice, the visitors where the first to get a sniff of the try line, as Keian Richards chipped the ball through for Roma Zheng to chase.

Exeter would survive though, as Jordan Bond managed to race back and snaffle the ball away, before EURFC launched an assault of their own.
Dan John had switched to fullback ahead of this fixture and his lightning pace saw him charge down the wing and chip through, before forcing a turnover for his side.

Exeter had their tails up as they searched for the early score, harrying and hustling the Met defence, to allow Sam Higginson to crash over from close range, to seal the perfect start for his side.

Minutes later, EURFC were off again, as Yarnell and John combined to leave Met scrambling in defence. The visitors were struggling to realign and gave up another penalty advantage, which Exeter would take full advantage of.

Centre Tom Hitchcock fizzed the ball wide to Bond, who was able to collect and run in unopposed out wide. The wing even had time to celebrate as he made his way to the line, with Exeter in rampant form.

Moments later, things would take a turn for Exeter, as they lost captain Olly White to injury. With Met hooker Morgan Nelson taking out Dan John in the air, the fullback landed awkwardly on his captain, with White forced to depart the field.

Things were to get even worse for Exeter minutes later, as Chris Moore was forced from the field with what would later be confirmed as a broken jaw. It was a heartbreaking way for two stalwarts of this Exeter side to end their Topsham careers, but their side still had to regroup without them.

It didn’t take them long though to do just that, as Lloyd-Seed showed his dancing feed to leave Met captain Iwan Shenton grasping at thin air, before offloading to now-captain Yarnell to race over and spark jubilant scenes from the replacements.

Cardiff Met though are too good a side to simply go away and they would hit back on the half hour mark, as Will Rigg cut a stunning line off of scrum half Richards to barrel over and get his side on the board.

Met were upping the intensity now and looked to drive their way over with the half-time whistle about to sound, only for EURFC’s maul defence to rescue them, as they were cheered back into the changing rooms by the Topsham faithful.

HALF-TIME: EXETER UNIVERSITY 21-5 CARDIFF MET

Any thoughts that this one was done and dusted were swiftly dampened at the start of the second half, as Met arrived with a point to prove.

Just two minutes after the restart, the visitors looked to drive over from close range, with the referee having no choice but to award a penalty try as several EURFC players collapsed the maul.

In the end, replacement Luke Bury was the man to take the hit for his team, as he saw yellow.

Met were really on the up now, with Rigg at the heart of all their good work, as he went bursting through a gap in the Exeter defence, with the ball being worked wide to Zheng.

The winger has been lethal this season, but he was smashed into touch by John, averting the immediate danger.

Zheng wouldn’t be denied though and when Met secured the ball at the lineout and began to drive towards the line, the powerful wing managed to get his hands on the ball and dot down, with Roderick-Evans’ conversion reducing the gap to just two points.

EURFC needed a lift, as momentum shifted back and forth, and they found it whilst still dealing with the yellow card.

Second-row Arthur Thomas has arguably had his two best games in an Exeter shirt in recent weeks and this one was no different. It would be the third-year student who wrestled momentum back for his side, as he leapt like a salmon to charge down Richards’ box-kick, before showing a supreme turn of pace to beat the scrum-half to the ball and dot down.

Exeter were flying again now, with another try following soon after. A rumbustious charge from Archie Hosking off the base of a scrum forced Met back into their 22, with Exeter building the phases as they went hunting a fifth of the afternoon.

With the advantage being played, the ball was then worked through the hands, allowing Yarnell to feed the onrushing Eelman to skate over for his first BUCS Super Rugby try in his final home match. Lloyd-Seed again added the extras, to stretch Exeter’s lead again.

The fly-half would the slot a penalty from just inside his own half to take the lead up to 19 points, heading into the final 20 minutes of what had been an absorbing contest.

Lloyd-Seed was enjoying himself in the Topsham sunshine and added a second long-range penalty minutes later, to take his side more than three scores ahead.

As in the early part of the second half though, the visitors would hit back, as Brad Denty crashed over from close range, to breathe new life into the contest.

Whilst Exeter’s defence had been relentless for most of the afternoon, Met were beginning to find space now, as Zheng squirmed over for his second of the afternoon with little over five minutes to go, reducing the gap to 8 points.

There was tension in the air now and, when Met found themselves with a lineout in the Exeter 22, there was a palpable sense that this match may be heading for a titanic conclusion.

When Exeter needed it most though, Sam Higginson popped up with arguably the biggest hand of the season, to steal the ball and allow Exeter to clear their lines.

As the clock hit 80, Exeter knew they were heading to the final, but there was still time for one more highlight.

With Exeter’s scrum shunting Met off the ball to seal a penalty, it was left to Lloyd-Seed to smash over a third penalty of the afternoon, to seal a truly remarkable semi-final victory.

This will surely go down as an all-time BUCS Super Rugby classic and arguably one of the finest semi-finals the league has seen.
For EURFC, this was the culmination of months of hard work and training, as they secured a date with destiny at Sixways on 13th April.

There is still one game to go, but if Exeter are able to produce a performance of the same level as this one, they will leave themselves in the best possible place to mount a challenge for the title against Durham.