Exeter College ended Hartpury's long reign as they beat Worthing College in the final to win the U18s Girls ACE Competition.
Worthing had made sure Hartpury didn't continue their incredible run of reaching every single final since the ACE tournament began in 2015 – winning all but one of them – as the school from the south coast finished top of Group A in a run that had included beating Hartpury 40-20.
That defeat confirmed Hartpury's exit as they had earlier been beaten by South Gloucestershire and Stroud (SGS) 21-12, but Worthing also got the better of SGS with a 21-7 win to progress to the final and set up a meeting with Exeter.
Exeter had a proud recent history in the tournament going into this year's edition, winning the main tournament in 2022 before being promoted to the ACE competition 2023, where Hartpury had beaten them in the final.
They had to battle to edge Loughborough 26-17 in their first game, but faired more comfortably with a 31-5 win against Oaklands Collegeto take control of Group B.
The Exonians all-but secured another place in the final as they beat Worthing's 2nd VII 31-7, but were made to work hard in their last group game in defeating Henley College 26-22 with only conversions separating the two sides.
Worthing's 1st VII were stubborn in the final, but Tilly Pulsar scored a brilliant hat-trick as Exeter showed their tournament pedigree with a 20-7 win.
