Cumbria celebrated their victory in London on Saturday, having made the decision to travel down the day before and return home on Sunday.

Coach Dean Bowman stressed the importance of preparation, saying, “We talked about coming down here and what we would do, and it worked.

“I am certainly very proud of the whole team, and the back-room staff.

“I am chuffed for all the boys.

“Our first half was very good, but we knew they would come back in the second half.

“It did get a bit tetchy at times.

“There was no Man of the Match for me because everyone deserved it. But I suppose somebody has got to get the Man of the Match and Glen [Weightman] contributed so much to the game.”

Something that shone through during the game was the level of comfort all the backs had in different positions.

When James Telford went off, Ben Walker moved from full-back to scrum-half, Dini Noyo went to the 15, Peter Weightman went from left-wing to right and Danny Barker took over at left-wing.

“We packed the bench with forwards because it was the subs who kept the team going,” Bowman said.

“All the subs were planned, apart from Hodgson’s dislocated finger in the first 10 minutes. But he came back and scored the last try.

“The youth bring energy and excitement, while the more experienced players bring stability. We had the perfect mix today. The key to winning is to work harder.”

Man of the Match was Kendal’s fly-half Glen Weightman.

“We came here in 2015 and lost to Leicestershire, so this righted a wrong today,” Weightman said. “Everyone has bought into what we are doing, the players and the backroom staff.”