Falmouth Eagles coach Phil Angove said he was delighted to learn club captain Tony Whittle had been named in the Cornwall squad.

A highly-rated flanker, Whittle has been one of the Eagles' most consistent performers over the course of the season, and the Falmouth boss said his call up was well deserved.

“It's great for him,” said Angove. “And he deserves it. Not to take anything away from the club, but to be selected for the county squad when you’re playing for Falmouth is quite an achievement, so I’m really pleased for him.”

But despite his excellent formof late Whittle was powerless to prevent the Eagles from losing against Exeter University on Saturday, after a bruising encounter at the Recreation Ground whcih finished 32-3 to the Students.

Exeter ran away with it in the second half, but Angove maintained that he was pleased with the way his side played.

“I thought we did ourselves proud,” he said. “Exeter are a fine side, and are probably good enough to be playing a couple of leagues higher than they are, so I was really pleased with the way we played.

“The first half was hugely competitive, and we dominated the forward exchanges.”

The Eagels boss had to contend with the loss of forward Joel Rose before the game, forcing him to make changes to his starting lineup.

“I was in a bit of a situation where I could have played him, and he wanted to play, but I felt duty bound not to.

“It’s been the same story all season really. At full strength I think we’re a top three side - we were in the top three for a while earlier in the season. Player unavailability has been the biggest problem, but that’s amateur rugby for you!”