Head of rugby Scott Powell hailed a superb season for Durham School after their Twickenham dream came to a heart-breaking end in the Continental Tyres Schools Vase semi-finals.

Ajay Edwards had a chance to send Durham under-18s through to the final at Twickenham but he missed a last-minute penalty that helped seal a narrow 16-14 win for Felsted School.

It was still an impressive performance from Durham, who scored tries through Dan Toole and Herbie Hay, and Powell – though disappointed - was quick to praise his players at full-time in Aylesbury.

“The lads have had a great season, a superb season. It is one of the best we have had in quite a while,” he said.

“It has been a brilliant year for the kids and the staff and everyone what has been involved at the school.  It is just a shame it ended today, but it has been a great season.

“We are pretty disappointed. I thought the lads put a lot of effort in, but they probably just didn’t execute what we had talked about pre-game. 

“I thought Felsted played really well, it was a tough game. There is a lot of disappointment within the squad at the moment, we have probably under-performed a little bit, which is a shame after coming so far.

“But I am proud of the boys and they should be proud of themselves.”

Continental Tyres and the RFU are working together to grow rugby through school-linked activity and 171,404 age grade players have registered to play this season, almost 3,000 more than the overall figure last year.

Durham School have a well-regarded rugby system and captain Patrick Hogg will play for England U18s against France in the coming days.

The lock forward is highly thought of and, alongside Durham teammates Sam Graham and Dan Toole, represented Newcastle Falcons at Premiership Rugby’s Academy finals day at Gloucester’s Kingsholm Stadium last month.

While it is Felsted that can plan for a day out at Twickenham, where they will play Ivybridge Community College, Powell is hopeful that his players have learned much from their semi-final experience at the weekend. 

He said: “The key is when they get to these occasions, they don’t play within themselves.

“We’ve got a lot of lads involved with academy setups, have got a lot of rugby left to play this year and it is making sure you take every opportunity you get and do not play within yourself.”

The Continental Tyres Schools Cup is an important part of the age-grade rugby landscape in England, with schools’ rugby often where players fall in love with the game for the first time. For more information visit the Continental Tyres Schools Cup section of the England Rugby Website