Devon RFU Senior Cup
| Devon Senior Cup | |
|---|---|
| Sport | Rugby Union |
| Instituted | 1887 |
| Number of teams | 18 |
| Country |
 England
|
| Holders | Brixham (4th title) (2016–17) |
| Most titles | Exeter (16 titles) |
| Website | Devon RFU |
The Devon Senior Cup is an annual rugby union knock-out club competition organized by the Devon Rugby Football Union. It was first introduced in the 1887-88 season and the inaugural competition was won by Tiverton. During the early years of the cup the format changed several times from a knock-out competition to a league format, then to hybrid league/cup, then back to being a knock-out cup once again. The competition also was had periods of inactivity, with World War I preventing play for a number of seasons and then the cup being cancelled in the 1930s before being reintroduced for the 1969-70 season when it was won by St. Luke's College (now Exeter University). The Havill Plate was introduced in the 1970s for teams knocked out of the first round of the cup which would continue until 1999. Competitions similar to the Havill Plate were introduced in 2009 for teams that got knocked out of the earlier stages of the cup were introduced - plate (semi finals) and vase (quarter finals) - but these were discontinued due to a lack of interest by the clubs involved.
The Devon Senior Cup is currently the premier county cup competition for club sides based in Devon that play in tier 5 (National League 3 South West), tier 6 (Tribute South West 1 West), tier 7 (Tribute Western Counties West) and tier 8 (Tribute Cornwall/Devon) of the English rugby union league system. The current format is as a knock-out cup with a first round, second round, quarter-final, semi-final and final, which is to be played at the home ground of one of the finalists. In previous years the competition was an 8 team knock-out competition open to clubs in tier 5 (National League 3 South West) as well as tier 6, but this was changed to also include tier 7 and 8 sides for the 2016-17 season as the Devon Intermediate Cup was cancelled.
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