Forward thinking for Richie Williams after Cambridge's great escape in National League One
Richie Williams has outlined how Cambridge will learn lessons for next season after their great escape to keep their National League One status.
Tries from James Ayrton, Mike Ayrton, Ciaran Moore and Sam Yawayawa, plus conversions from Ben Penfold, helped them to a 24-5 win at Sale FC last Saturday.
However, it was Jacques Le Roux’s late try for Birmingham Moseley that was crucial, earning them a 12-10 win over Caldy to relegate the side from the Wirral.
It has been a difficult campaign for Cambridge, who ended up two points clear of the relegation zone, and the head coach is eager to bounce back next season.
“We’re massively relieved to be staying in National One,” said Williams. “We had prepared for every eventuality, whether we stayed up or whether we went into National Two, and had a bit of time to process the worst case scenario.
“I was just really happy for everybody on Saturday, for us to win and the other result to go our way.
“It was a nice way to finish off a tough season. There have been lots of challenges along the way, a few roadblocks as well.
“For me, going into my first season in National One, you don’t really know what to expect. I was probably a little naive going into the season as well.
“Looking at the season, some of the games we’ve played well, some of the experiences we’ve had, I think I’m certainly better for the experiences and know the players will be as well.
“There are lots of learning experiences, but a sense of pride that we managed to stay in the league after the position we found ourselves in before Saturday.”
There is not one overriding point that Williams will take forward, but instead a series of smaller things.
One area that they will assess though is the speed in which they adapted their game when the weather turned in mid-winter and also their lack of try bonus points.
“Certainly for us next season, it will be a period where we need to plan accordingly and pick up some better results than what we have this year,” he said.
“I think the bigger picture for us is that we were the lowest points scorers in the league so that will give us something to work towards next season – to get more bonus-point wins.
“Ultimately, we won more games than Chinnor and they finished 10th. The difference was the lack of try bonus points we scored so that will give us an area to develop.”
Cambridge have been making good progress in shaping their squad for next season, with many of those they wanted to retain already signed up.
The plans were put on hold until their status was assured, but Williams added: “This week and the next couple of weeks we will be making some new signings, and announcing some more retentions going into next season.”
