DEVIZES Rugby Club's U14s have returned from the junior section's first overseas tour and such was its success officials said it will be the first of many.

The boys flew out from Bristol Airport and then travelled to their base at Mezin in the Toulouse region of France.

They stayed in a farmhouse about two miles out of the town which was owned by Englishman Julian Dazely.

Devizes' first games were in a three-way tournament against Mezin and another local club Nerac.

Mezin launched into Devizes early on and were tackling like demons in defence and running everything wide in attack.

Having conceded the opening score Devizes reverted to tried and tested methods based on hard driving forward pressure grinding the opposition down before releasing the ball to their backs.

In the end Devizes ran out comfortable winners with tries by Nick Farrant, Niko Brown, James Dazeley, Tim Brain and Josh Lyon.

Mezin also managed a second try leaving a score line of 12-27 in Devizes' favour.

The second game against Nera was equally open and the opposition again demonstrated their fierce tackling ability.

Devizes' tries were scored by Aran Rowles and Josh Lyon (2) as the game finished with a score-line of 5-19 in the tourists' favour.

The team then travelled to Marmande where they took in the town before going head to head with the local team. The Marmande youth section operates as the local rugby academy and the U14 side was made up of the best players from all the local clubs. But the difference in class was not as great as the score-line of 41-0 would suggest.

The final game of the tour was against Gabarret, a school specialising in rugby alongside academic studies. They provided tough opposition and the Devizes game was badly affected by the loss of prop Nick Farrant who was carried from the field injured after only five minutes.

But Devizes showed great character to achieve a 14-14 draw with tries coming from James Dazeley and Niko Brown.

Devizes U14s coach Roy Farrant said: "It was a highly satisfactory trip, with excellent rugby and wonderful fun and best of all our boys proved to be great ambassadors for Devizes RFC.

"In Mezin the boys were something of celebrities as posters in shop windows advertised their presence at the Tournoi International de Rugby.

"In rugby terms we have witnessed French youth rugby at its best. Each team we played was well coached and supported.

"From the coaching perspective we have learnt the value of aggressive defence as a means of putting even the most talented players on the back foot.

"On and off the field we are proud of how the Devizes boys conducted themselves. They were great ambassadors for the rugby club and the town. "This was the first overseas tour by the squad and will definitely not be the last."