Cambridge Rugby Club’s women’s team sign off as champions with 100 per cent winning record after victory against Bishop’s Stortford

It was not so long ago that the existence of Cambridge Rugby Club’s women’s team was under threat.

Often only a handful of players would attend training and matches – leading to numerous heavy defeats.

However, last summer brought with it a much needed sea change. Newly-installed head coach Daniel Allen spearheaded a big recruitment drive and with numbers now at a healthy level, the upturn in results have been there for all to see.

Cambridge were confirmed as Women’s NC 3 Midlands champions in early April and last weekend’s 41-22 victory over Bishop’s Stortford meant that they finished the season with a 100 per cent winning record.

For captain Allegra Sloot, who has been part of the squad since the early days, the alteration in form has been most welcome.

She said: “We heavily recruited last summer and a lot of the players stuck around and had their heads in the game.

“We had a lot of beginners sign up, but we’ve grown as a team and we’re all in it together.

“It’s a long way from five players at training and turning up at matches with eight, which meant we’d have to borrow from the other team and then lose something like 60-0.

“Things started to change a bit towards the end of last season, so there was an expectation that we could win the league this year.

“We’ve got each other’s backs and it’s great to see how far we’ve come.”

While the title had already been sewn up, there was still some tension heading into the season-ending clash with Stortford.

Up against opposition determined to put a blemish on a perfect record, Cambridge still had a job to do.

Sloot added: “There was a lot of pressure on it because we really wanted to get the clean sweep.

“We knew Stortford would turn up and put up a good fight. They wanted to take our winning record away.

“But we were determined not to lose after the season we had and we all put in a shift to make sure that we got the win.”

Attention will now switch towards next term when Cambridge will have to adapt to life at a higher level.

And Sloot is confident that there is enough quality within the ranks – alongside the addition of some fresh faces – for her side to be a competitive force.

“We’ve got some experienced players now and players that can play in a number of different positions,” she said.

“We will lose some players to university and that happens every summer but we’ll still have a good team staying behind.

“Recruitment will also be a big thing to bulk up the numbers and I’m sure we’ll be good enough to pick up some good results.”