After two drawn matches in a row Richmond got back to winning ways with an emphatic twenty point win over a plucky Cambridge team.

Spare a thought for the hard work 'Mr Snaps' goes through....

Openside Dave O’Brien and winger Ryan Brend were making their 1st XV debuts and flanker O’Brien was in the thick of things all afternoon.

The match started with rain and hail stones pouring onto the pitch which made handling really tricky.  Richmond sensibly used their powerful pack to establish good field position and laid siege to the Cambridge line. Richmond pressure was firstly rewarded with a simple Louis Grimoldby penalty. Good defence kept the home side at bay who were frustrated when wing Will Browne appeared to score but was deemed to have lost control in the act of scoring. Browne again went close only to be held up over the line. From the resulting five metre scrum Cambridge struggled to hold the dominant home pack and due to continual infringements conceded a penalty try. Ten minutes later saw a repeat situation when the referee again awarded a penalty against the retreating Cambridge pack. A further Grimoldby penalty saw Richmond go into half time with a 20-0 lead.

Ready, steady.....

A series of mistakes and poor decisions allowed Cambridge back into the game. A quick tap and go from a Richmond scrum penalty caught the home defence napping and saw Cambridge wing Pat Tapley go over. A poorly directed kick and even poorer defence allowed a second Cambridge try for James Ayrton. Harsh words from home skipper Will Warden appeared to spark Richmond into life. A series of attacks on the Cambridge 22m line saw the visitors yet again penalised and Grimoldby give Richmond a 23-10 lead. This was followed by yet another barracking run from the rangy no 8 Harison Edwards who found O’Brien in support to go over for his debut try. Richmond tried hard to score the fourth bonus point earning try but were thwarted by determined Cambridge defence.

Richmond Director of Rugby Steve Hill commented;’ I was really impressed with our performance in the tight today. Our front five were exceptional and today’s win was based on that. I know the players will be frustrated we did not get the extra four try bonus point but that illustrates the standards the squad sets itself.’

Team: T. Chesters, W. Browne,  N. Moore,  T. Gregory, R. Brend, L. Grimoldby, R. Shaw (J. Gibbs), T. Walford, J. Phipps, D. Parkinson (A. Lyon), W. Warden, C. Davies, T George (JP Attlee), D. O’Brien, H. Edwards