Kicking king Conor Bullivant paid tribute to his Northampton School for Boys team-mates after their thrilling Daily Mail Cup run ended in defeat at Twickenham.
NSB were beaten 27-17 in the showpiece under-18 final by a well-drilled Dulwich College side, who played to their strengths to retain the trophy.
The Billing Road school were never out of the contest though and proved more than a match for the cup holders.
Bullivant however admitted Dulwich, a side brimming with forward power, were ‘too big’ for NSB to contend with.
“At the end of the day we gave all our effort to try to stop them, but they were just too big,” said the fly-half.
“We tried to play our rugby, we tried to play a little bit, but unfortunately on the day it just didn’t work out for us.
“All in all I’m really proud of the boys. The fight they’ve put in and the tackles they made.
“We’ve got the likes of Tom Hammersley, who is 15. He’s played his heart out for the side as has Roti (Rotimi Segun). They’re playing beyond their years and captured all of what we’re about. They never gave up.”
Two-try hero Oliver Hartfield was keen to thank the NSB supporters, who travelled in force to the capital despite the recent freak weather conditions.
“We had a lot of support here from the whole of Northamptonshire,” he said.
“The likes of the Saints have been a real support, they’ve all said good luck, put stuff on Twitter and Facebook and did a video for us.
“There were so many people in the town getting behind us. The sound of the crowd out there was amazing. You could hear it on the pitch - it was great support.”