Twickenham played host to a thrilling men's BUCS Rugby Championship final on Wednesday and University of Exeter skipper Sam Skinner insists it was his team’s spirit that helped bring home the trophy after a dramatic drop goal sealed their victory.

Skinner’s side started at a blistering pace at the Home of Rugby and, with five minutes remaining, looked like they were heading for victory over Loughborough University.

But a late penalty gave Loughborough a one-point lead before replacement James Doe came to the rescue with a drop goal two minutes from time to win it 21-19.

And Skinner says he couldn’t have asked for more from his team as they secured the most memorable of victories.

“Going behind with that amount of time left is something we haven’t faced before so it was a test that I didn’t know if we would pass,” said Skinner.

“To get in their final third was important and to finish it off was amazing and we earned that little bit of luck.

“I was just in front of the drop goal and I didn’t think it was going over at first but to see it go over was incredible and there is no feeling like it.

“It’s incredible to win with a drop goal in the last minutes at Twickenham, it’s such a special moment and one the lads will remember forever.”

Exeter were quickest out of the blocks and had a try under the posts inside the first ten minutes thanks to Sam Waltier.

Gavin Parker missed the easiest of conversions but he made amends with a penalty shortly after before a Dan Watt penalty got Loughborough on the board.

Freddie Hosking responded immediately for Exeter with a converted try on the right and Parker added a penalty to extend the advantage.

Brendon Mandivenga grabbed a converted try to close the gap for Loughborough but a Parker penalty on half-time gave Exeter an 18-13 lead.

Watt added his third penalty after the restart and, with five minutes remaining, he grabbed another to give Loughborough the lead for the first time.

But Exeter weren’t done and the drop goal from Doe three minutes from time sealed the win.

“It was an intense game and I thought we dominated a lot of it but credit to Loughborough because they defended really well,” Skinner added.

“When they got their chances they took them and I think we weren’t clinical enough at times and it took something a bit extra special to win it at the end.

“We want to come out of the blocks firing in every game and we went out there and played the game and not the occasion.

“Fair play to them though because they didn’t give in and they managed to claw themselves back into the match.”

British Universities & Colleges Sport (BUCS) is the national governing body for Higher Education (HE) sport in the UK, organising leagues and competitions for more than 150 institutions across 52 different sports. Partnered by Deloitte, BUCS supports athletes from a grass roots level through to Commonwealth and Olympic Games hopefuls www.bucs.org.uk