PRIDE is the overwhelming emotion for teenager Oskar Fields after being appointed Cornwall U18 captain.

The 17-year-old flanker, who has played his club rugby for Penryn since the age of five, was selected as the Duchy’s skipper for their present County Championship campaign.

The Truro College student, who also previously attended Mabe School and Penryn College, said getting the opportunity to lead Cornwall out on the rugby field was a great feeling.

Fields said: “Being asked to play for your county is an honour and I feel very proud to be asked to captain the side.

“They are a great bunch of players and our coaches have put in a lot of hard work with us.

“I’ve always enjoyed playing rugby and have made a lot of good friends through the sport, both at Penryn and within the county.”

In their first match against Somerset away, the Duchy ran out comfortable 62-8 victors.

On Sunday they hosted Devon at Wadebridge in what proved to be a tougher examination.

Cornwall started brightly putting pressure immediately on their opponent’s defence, but it was Devon who opened the scoring with two tries coming in the first ten minutes.

With only one of these being converted, Cornwall were 12 points behind but soon regrouped and with a quick penalty scored their first try through Toby Robinson to cut the deficit to seven.

In the second half, number eight Brandon Andrews reduced the arrears further to just two points when he got through a narrow gap after Cornwall’s scrum dominated Devon’s.

The half became scrappy as several substitutions made by both sides tried to find their way into the game.

It was Devon who soon took the initiative though as they bagged two tries in quick succession putting them 24-10 ahead with ten minutes left.

Cornwall still showed plenty of determination though as their pack battled at every ruck, setting up full-back Fraser Honey with enough space to run over the line for a converted try.

Late drama ensued as with normal time up, the Cornish side exerted more pressure on Devon and with the last play of the game Matt Green bundled over out wide.

Sadly the conversion attempt was pushed wide and meant Devon left 24-22 winners.

Reflecting on the game, Fields felt the way Cornwall played in the second half should have seen them to victory.

“It's a disappointing result for us as it was a game we should have won,” he said.

“The boys showed great spirit in coming back, “We will have to improve our organisation in defence and our finishing, but if we can we will to do well up at Bristol later this month.”