Fin Creighton and Matt Dawson commit to Cambridge Rugby Club for next National League One season

Fin Creighton and Matt Dawson will be returning to Cambridge Rugby Club next season.

The duo are the latest to agree terms to stay with the National League One club, following full-back Joe Tarrant and centre Matt Hema.

Scrum-half Creighton, a product of the club’s mini and youth system, spent last season on loan at Volac Park from Championship side Coventry but will be returning full-time for the 2020-21 campaign.

“I think that is really good for us because he is another player that has come through the system at Cambridge, he has played through the minis and juniors, he has played all of his rugby at the club,” said Cambridge head coach Richie Williams.

“Alongside Gareth Baxter, Sam Copeland, Noah Sloot, it’s something that we really want to drive over the next couple of seasons, to really promote and develop the players that have come through the rugby club.

“We know what Fin is capable of. He ended the season really well for us. He is better for the experiences that he had in that full-time environment at Coventry.

“He is excited about coming back. He saw Gareth Baxter reaching 100 caps just before we finished and it is something that he wants to do in the future.

“It’s really good for us and I know Fin is really excited as well.”

Back-row forward Dawson, who is in the Army, joined part-way through the 2019-20 season, and caught the eye with some impressive performances.

“He has been a bit of a revelation for us this season,” said Williams.

“He joined us in October/November time and bar his commitments with the Army, he has played pretty much every game.

“What we’ve seen with him is that he is a really direct and physical ball carrier that is really difficult to stop when he gets going. He will make two or three turnovers per game.

“He has been one of our stand-out players this season and fitted in really well with the club. He has built up a good relationship with the other players and it was a bit of a no-brainer to extend his contract. He is really happy with how his season has gone.

“He brings a really good balance to our back row that we were probably lacking two seasons ago.”

Williams added: “Those two players were pretty integral to what we started to build on that winning run that we had before Christmas.

“They are both key figureheads to how we want to play and how we want to evolve our game-plan. Hopefully we will get more of the same next season.”