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SINCE 1819
SINCE 1819
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Cambridge retained their grip on second spot in the National League 1 standings with a 38-24 victory over Esher on Saturday.
The hosting Blood and Sand were in imperious form during the first half, racking up a total of 30 unanswered points along the way.
However, the visitors from Surrey rallied after the restart and it was not until a try from Kwaku Asiedu in the dying embers that the home faithful was able to rest easy.
Reflecting on his sideâs performance on the Steve Jackson Podcast, Cambridgeâs director of rugby Richie Williams said: âItâs five points, we needed that. After last week we picked up that good result at Rosslyn Park and I thought today that first 40 minutes was really good.
âWe did what we sort set out to do. The energy with the ball was really high and when we didnât have the ball we were disciplined defensively.
âWe scored some good tries in that period but for the second week running weâve not performed in that period in the second half.
âWeâll take a look at ourselves first and ask are we doing something that we probably shouldnât be doing, but there were moments in that second half â particularly when youâre playing into a strong wind like we were today â we were a little bit loose when we got in good positions to score.
âYouâve got to be good on the ball in conditions like this and I donât think we did that in that second half.
â(There are) big things to take away but as I say itâs five points and thatâs what we set out to do and we achieved that.
âWeâve got to have a bit more desperation about ourselves. Itâs hard in any sport when youâre winning as comfortably as we were in that first half, itâs only the elite teams that will go on and push on from that position.
âWeâre not quite there yet but the reality is weâre nine games into a season now. Itâs an area that we need to get better at because weâve been in this position a few times in the season where weâve got off to a real healthy start, led well and then at some point in the game weâve not been able to nail home that advantage in the second half.
âWeâre aware of that, the players are aware of that, and itâs something that weâre focused on going into the next game.â
The star of the show from a Cambridge perspective was Joe Tarrant, who ran in four tries during a rampant first-half display.
And Williams believes he has the âbestâ full-back in the division at his disposal.
He said: âTaz (Tarrant) is one of those players that when he gets into a bit of form like he is now heâs pretty hard to stop.
âWe had to move him to 13 in the second half. Thatâs not a position heâs played too much rugby in but he didnât look out of place.
âWeâre really grateful to have a player of his sort of talent at the club.
âYou forget sometimes that he came to us as a 10, but heâs played a lot of rugby at 15 and for me heâs the best full-back in National 1.â