Cambridge Rugby Club seek to keep unbeaten home record intact against Chinnor

Director of rugby Richie Williams has warned his Cambridge players that their long unbeaten run at home is set to face a thorough examination in the build up to Christmas.

When Cambridge run out at Volac Park on Saturday (November 26) it will be one year and one day exactly since they last lost in front of their own supporters.

Leeds Tykes were the victors on that occasion, with Cambridge having since racked up 13 outings without defeat.

And before the festive break they will be aiming to extend that sequence to 16, starting against Chinnor this weekend before Hull and Bishop’s Stortford visit on December 10 and 17 respectively.

Chinnor and Hull, in particular, are languishing in the lower reaches of the table, yet Williams is adamant they will both provide a stern test.

“We’ve not lost at home since before Christmas last year and that is something we’re really proud of,” said Williams.

“We’re really keen to keep that intact but it’s going to be a challenging month to make sure we can do it.

“A couple of the teams we’re playing are fighting for their lives and even at this stage of the season they’re scrapping for points and looking to take a scalp.

“That brings with it its own pressure for us and we’ve got to have the answers to that and also deal with their threats.

“It will all come down to the level of performance but also our mentality because the teams will be coming looking to cause an upset.”

Williams’ side went into last weekend’s break from action on the back of a narrow defeat at a Birmingham Moseley outfit that are in the bottom half.

Nevertheless, that was not enough to knock Cambridge off second spot in the National League One standings, despite the gap to table-topping Rams growing to seven points.

Williams said: “It was a disappointing result at Birmingham but we welcome the week off.

“It’s given us a chance to recharge and also look at things and assess where we are.

“It’s been a really encouraging six weeks and we’re still in second place – this group of players has not done it before.

“At the same time this group are highly critical of themselves, that’s the nature of the players we have, and they’ll be looking for more.

“The loss last time at Birmingham may have come at the right time and act as a wake up call going into Christmas.”