Cambridge head coach Richie Williams calls for improved performances after RFU Championship defeat at Hartpury University

Head coach Richie Williams has warned his Cambridge players that they must improve their collective performance if they are to take anything from their home clash with Cornish Pirates on Saturday (19 October).

Williams watched on last Friday as his side failed to recover from a poor start at Hartpury University before eventually going down to a 43-10 defeat.

It was Cambridge’s third loss from four outings so far this term – form that sees them sit second from bottom in the early RFU Championship standings.

Like Cambridge, this weekend’s visitors from Cornwall only have one victory to their name so far this season – and Williams is keen to see a response.

“Whenever you lose a game it’s really disappointing. The manner in which we played in that first 20 minutes, that set the tone for the night,” he told the Richie & Jacko Podcast.

“We conceded four penalties in the opening 10 minutes and that puts you under significant pressure.

“And if you allow a side like Hartpury easy entries into your 22 then you’re making life very hard for yourselves.

“We spoke a lot in the week about being disciplined in the middle third but for some reason we weren’t very disciplined and we found ourselves 14-0 down after five minutes.

“That was difficult to get back from that moment. We had a pretty honest conversation at half-time and I thought we came out fighting in the second half, but we’ve got to be far better than that against any side this season.

“If this season is anything to go by, when we’ve had poor performances we have responded really well the following week – that will have to be the same again.”