Cambridge Rugby Club head coach and director of rugby Richie Williams wants lift from near fully-fit squad for Caldy trip in RFU Championship

Cambridge Rugby Club head coach and director of rugby Richie Williams is hopeful the availability of an almost fully-fit squad for their basement battle at Caldy on Saturday (11 May) can give his side a “really big lift” as they look to deliver a positive result.

Cambridge currently sit at the foot of the RFU Championship table, one place and nine points below this weekend’s Merseyside-based opponents with two games of the season remaining, though relegation is off the cards after Jersey folded at the start of the campaign.

Williams’ outfit are currently on an eight-game losing run – which stretches back to 27 January – but after a three-week break, the Cambridge boss is ready to welcome back winger Joe Green (knee) and number eight Nahum Merigan (dead leg) in an attempt to help end their winless streak.

“I think it (the break) probably came at a good time for us,” admitted Williams.

“It allowed us a bit more time to get players back up to full fitness, where we’re almost now selecting from a fully-fit squad which we’ve not had the luxury to do the last couple of months.

“Just to have a little bit of a break at this stage in the season for the players (is nice) to mentally, more than anything, just regroup.

“I think everyone involved with the club is looking forward to Saturday. Caldy are one of the teams we’ve beaten once this season so it would be a really big lift if we can go up to Caldy and get a positive result.”

Williams admitted he knew this season would be a challenge, with this being their first campaign in the Championship, but wants his side to put together two performances to be proud of that will build momentum heading into pre-season.

“We’ve learnt a lot of lessons from the difficult experiences,” he said.

“The importance of having a little more squad depth in certain positions as we’ve been exposed this season because of the physicality of this league. And the level of experience that is required at this level.

“We’ve got a number of young players that have definitely grown this season, but it’s a pretty harsh learning environment.

“We’ve identified a couple of senior players (to sign) that have had a number of years at Championship level.”