In what was a historic weekend for the RFU Championship, Cambridge marked the memorable round of action with their first ever win in the English second division. The league witnessed two record attendances across the league, with Cambridge making some history of their own at the Richmond Athletic Ground.
Cambridge took on London Scottish last Saturday, and achieved a narrow 28-26 win in front of a packed house in South West London. Whilst the RAG did not witness a record-setting fan attendance to the likes of Coventry’s Butts Park Arena, and Ampthill’s Dillingham Park, there was a strong contingent of home and away fans, for Cambridge’s maiden Championship win, after gaining promotion from the National One division.
The win came at a significant time for the RFU Championship clubs, following the comments made about the league by RFU CEO Bill Sweeney: “What are you investing in? You’d rather take that money and invest it in other things.” he said.
“We’ve shown if you pour money into the existing structure of the Championship, it just doesn’t deliver. That’s not being disrespectful. It just doesn’t.”
Sweeney watched on in Richmond, and witnessed Cambridge overtake London Scottish to move up from the bottom of the RFU Championship table. Speaking on Sweeny’s attendance, Richie Williams said:
“We’ve had some really positive experiences in our short time in this league. The Jeopardy in that game today, it was a high scoring game we’ve come away with five points, Scottish have got the losing bonus points. And it’s a great spectacle, as every game that we’ve been involved in.
“So, you know, I do urge Bill Sweeney and some of the members of the RFU to come and watch this level, see the benefit of it, seeing the players that it’s created in the pathway, and hopefully in the future, we’ll receive a little bit more investment than what we get in the moment.”
Speaking on Cambridge’s latest podcast episode, Cambridge Director of Rugby Richie Williams was delighted with his team’s accomplishment. Speaking with BBC Radio Cambridgeshire reporter Steve Jackson, Williams said;
“Bit lost for words, I think the character that the players showed to go from five meters out from our own try line to turn the ball over, then go 90 meters and have the composure to score that try at the end. And then Jamie Benson to kick that conversion. I’m just delighted for everyone associated with the club, it’s been a long time coming, we’ve had a really tough couple of months. That’s the first game that we’ve won in a long time, and to win a close game in that manner, I think that’ll put us in good stead now for the new year.”
“We’ve grown into this league, I think we’ve now officially arrived, we’ve got our first win. I’ve been saying for a long time that we belong at this level, even though the results haven’t gone our way. But I think what we showed in large parts of that game was, it were very competitive. We had the killer instinct at the end to score that try, and get the five points. And you know, I’d like to think that the effort with the boys coming off the bench in particular today, they made an outstanding contribution in that second period. It’s really positive now going into Christmas, and just a reward for all the supporters that come and follow us every week.”