Richie Williams has been forced to make several changes to the squad that picked up four points at Caldy last week. The Blood & Sand play host to Coventry at 3pm on Saturday 5th October.
Here’s Richie: “I was pleased with the response to our opening day defeat last week. We knew we were going to get that level of emotional reaction from the players. The application on the whole was really positive on Saturday. We knew were going to have a battle on our hands and it’s the first time I’ve won up there. It was good to get that one over the line – and it’s given us a lot more confidence and self-belief in what’s essentially a new group”
“We’re looking forward to this weekend’s test – we ran Coventry close last time out here. the game finished 19-33 – they were 26 nil up at half time -we came back into that game in the last quarter and were unlucky not to take points from it. We’re fully aware of the challenge we’re going to face. Coventry are one of the title contenders this season. They’ve started this term on fire and they had a good win against Bedford Blues last week and put London Scottish to the sword in Week One. On paper it’s our toughest game so far – you just look at the quality in their squad. For us, we laid down a really good marker last Saturday and I’d like to think that’ll inspire us to have a real good go”
There are no changes to the XV that started last weekend’s win on the Wirral. Eli Caven is out, having pulled up in the warm-up last Saturday, so Joe Green retains his place on the wing. Zac Nearchou has a hamstring issue and Beltus Nonleh has been recalled by parent club Northampton Saints – so props Seb Brownhill and Jake Bridges return on the bench. Otherwise, once again it’s a 6/2 split – Matty Jones comes in as scrum half cover for the unavailable Pete White.
Cambridge line-up:
15- Arthur Lennon, 14- Josh Skelcey, 13- Matt Hema, 12- Ollie Betteridge, 11- Joe Green, 10- Louis Grimoldby (CC), 9- Ruaridh Dawson, 1- Jake Elwood, 2- Ben Brownlie, 3- Billy Walker, 4- Kayde Sylvester, 5- George Bretag Norris (CC), 6- Iestyn Rees, 7- Jared Cardew, 8- Jack Bartlett, 16- Morgan Veness, 17- Seb Brownhill, 18- Jake Bridges, 19- Gareth Baxter, 20- Ben Adams, 21- Matty Jones, 22- Sam Hanks, 23- Matt Dawson