Cambridge Rugby Club add a wide range of RFU Championship experience over the summer in bid to be more competitive this season

Nobody at Cambridge Rugby Club was under any illusions about the fact that there would be some difficult afternoons last season.

Having clinched the National League 1 title on the final day of the previous term, 2023/24 represented a first ever campaign in the RFU Championship for the club. All of a sudden Cambridge found themselves coming up against full-time outfits armed with big financial budgets.

And upon reflection, it was perhaps even tougher than most people had anticipated.

Richie Williams’ side won just two of their 20 fixtures, and as a result found themselves anchored to the foot of the table with the fewest points scored (382) and most conceded (796).

Looking back at how it all unfolded, director of rugby Williams said: “It was always going to be a really difficult challenge, knowing the league we were going into and knowing the resources that other teams who have been in that league a lot longer than us had to play with.

“We prepared for some challenges and it showed us what was needed to be more competitive in this league.

“The big thing for me about last season was to give all the players that were part of that successful National 1 squad an opportunity of playing in the Championship – they’ve now all had the chance to do that.

“But at the same time we found out what the physical demands were to be a bit more competitive at this level. There were some games when we were able to field our strongest 23 players where we were successful, competitive and we picked up points in all of those games.

“But what really showed up was how attritional the league is, what the physical demands are and that has shaped a lot of recruitment going into this season.

“There have been some difficult conversations. We’re operating now at the performance end of the game and you have to be comfortable having difficult conversations with players and staff.

“But equally, all of the players that are no longer with us, they’ve been part of the club’s history and played important roles in getting us to this level. I wouldn’t have done anything differently last season.

“What it also allowed us to do was to expose some of our younger players to that level of rugby. There were two or three that have come through the pathway at the club that had some exposure, which maybe two or three years ago they wouldn’t have dreamed of doing.

“There was of course a lot of disappointment about finishing bottom, but there was still some worthwhile experiences.

“We’d become really familiar with the old National 1. We knew every team, including all their strengths and weaknesses. Whereas last season, going into a division, you start to build up a better understanding of how teams operate as you’re going rather than having it all ready to go.”

But for all of their struggles, Cambridge could at least take some solace from the fact that following Jersey’s withdrawal, the threat of relegation and an immediate return to the National League set-up had been removed.

That allowed Williams and his coaching staff to have more than one eye on what was needed to ensure that the side that they send out each weekend is more competitive this time around.

Recruitment discussions actually started around Christmas time, and it has been notable how much previous Championship experience is possessed by the group of new recruits, with the number of arrivals well into double figures.

“Whenever I go into recruitment mode, it’s always important to get the right fit for the club and where we are as a group,” added the Welshman.

“The main driver for us going into this season was trying to recruit players that have played this level before and players that are really familiar with what is needed to be successful at this level. That was one of the most important things.

“And when you look at the spine of our team last season – number eight, scrum-half and fly-half – we were lacking a little bit of depth in those positions and a lack of experience.

“The successful teams last season were the ones that had a really good spine with players that could manage an attack and steer a team around the pitch. The recruitment we’ve done – certainly in those positions – has been really, really pleasing.

“With all of the new guys that have come in, they’ve fitted in well and there’s a fresh energy to the place at the moment.

“After a number of years as a coach you become really familiar with the playing group, so it’s probably a good thing to bring in fresh players with new ideas and a new concept of what success looks like.

“Fortunately the players that are still with us – the experienced guys – they’re all on board and it makes for a completely different atmosphere among the group.”

As well as having plenty of fresh faces to become accustomed to, supporters will also need to get to grips with a new style of play.

Cambridge went up with a similar approach to the one that got them promoted, but this time around Williams and his staff having been working to implement a more fluid and changeable attacking approach.

He said: “From an attacking perspective, we’ve refined how we want to attack and how we want to play. There was clearly a bit of a misconception going into the league last season that our main strengths historically have been our scrum and our line-out, so we’d look to use that.

“But every team at this level has a strong line-out and a really good scrum so what we’ve learned really quickly is that we have to be a little bit braver with how we want to play.

“We’ve got to be able to play outside of the set-piece, we’ve got to be able to be more threatening and be comfortable about moving the ball into space.

“There have been some really good signs in our pre-season fixtures where we’re creating more opportunities than what we were this time last year.

“The last pre-season game that we had we executed most of those opportunities that we created.

“And while we’ve had to develop our attacking play, defensively we’ve spent a lot of time in pre-season and in the off-season developing the players’ robustness. From a S & C (strength and conditioning) perspective, they’re a lot stronger, more physical and more explosive than what they were last season.

“All of that has been shaped by the experiences we had from last season.”

With so much Championship experience recruited – and the intention of playing a more attacking brand of rugby – the likelihood is that expectation levels will also rise.

It is something that Williams is acutely aware of, and he believes that last year’s baptism of fire will act as a driving force.

“We’ve got to see some tangible improvement from last season and that will mean winning more than two games – that was disappointing,” he said. “From a results perspective we want to pick up more positive results. We need to score more points, which should give us a better chance of winning more games.

“I’m a firm believer that through those shared experiences we had last season, through some of those difficult Saturdays and evenings that we had, we’re going to be far better prepared for what we’re going to be facing this season.

“The players that have come in, they’re bringing that level of experience and they know what it takes to win at this level of rugby.

“And one of the takeaways for us from last season was the importance of being consistent. In most games there were periods where we did some really good stuff, but at this level the moment that you make an error and you compound that with another mistake, inevitably you’re going to be conceding points.

“For us, we’re trying to be more consistent around the whole process of what we’re doing and hopefully that will put us in a better position.”