Cambridge Rugby Club beaten 66-22 in RFU Championship clash away at Nottingham

Cambridge’s tough campaign in the RFU Championship continued yesterday afternoon with a 66-22 defeat at Nottingham.

In many ways the encounter at the Lady Bay Sports Ground perfectly summed up the Blood and Sand’s struggles throughout the season.

They could – and perhaps should – have been leading heading into the break after an impressive first-half display.

Nevertheless, they still went into half-time well in the contest with only a four-point deficit at 26-22 after tries from Ben Brownlie, Elias Caven and Peter White.

However, Cambridge conceded two tries within the opening five minutes of the restart – and after that it was one-way traffic.

Interim head coach Anthony Allen told the Jacko Podcast: “For 40 minutes we stuck to the plan, did what we talked about and tried to execute it. We still let them have some easy scores, but we were in the game and should probably go in leading.

“We don’t, but it’s still a close contest and we’re causing them some issues and (they’re) finding the game difficult.

“In the second half we come out and the game is done in the first five minutes – it’s away from you.

“It’s frustrating but it’s been the catalyst of the season. Performances and bits of the game have not been (good enough) for long enough – it’s very frustrating.

“The bonus point? We didn’t deserve it based on the second half. You can’t come away from home and not put that performance in.

“Yes we scored tries quite easily, we made breaks quite easily, but we made mistakes of the back of those as well, which is obviously frustrating.”

Bottom-of-the-table Cambridge, who are five points adrift of 11th-placed Caldy, have now lost all seven of their league fixtures in 2025.

And they have a tough assignment on their hands next time out when they play host to table-topping Ealing Trailfinders at Ellgia Fields on 3 May.