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The 2s travelled to Renegades in a rearranged fixture looking to continue to apply pressure to the top of the table. Initial match preparation was disrupted by the excellent Cambridge traffic but eventually all players were accounted for.
The Cantabs pack had a solid feel, with Tozer, Sam and Darren forming a new front row and Charlie and Jonny providing more grunt behind them. With Dan out with Flu, Keegan slotted in at blindside.
In the backs, Dean and Toby paired up at half backs, and Francois and Fergus took their places either side of a familiar midfield set up, with Josh acting as sweeper.
On a claggy pitch but in warm sunlight Cantabs took the kick off and were able to make immediate progress upfield with strong running breaking through would be renegades tacklers. A good nudge to the corner from an infringement gave Cantabs a lineout 30m out from the Renegades line which was well taken by Joe and efficiently shifted to the back of the maul which rumbled on past the 22 before going to ground. Laurence shipped the ball left to Toby and a few pairs of swift hands later saw the try being made in the far left corner, Cantabs were on the board with only a few minutes gone.
Cantabs were using the blindside to good effect, exploiting the extra numbers to rack up tries 2, 3, and 4 in quick succession with Keegan, Francois and Charlie all making good progress with ball in hand. Darren however was struggling with his back and took a break. This meant a reshuffle of the team, with Charlie moving up into the front row, Laurence moving to Second row, Dean coming into the Pack and Robbie coming on to play outside Toby at Fly half. Cantabs flow was however unimpeded by these changes and with Dean now focussing on carrying hard progress towards the Renegades line was relentless bar a few stray passes and an accidental trip of his own captain from Dean.
In Renegades attempts to slow down the quick ball Cantabs were delivering from the breakdown were penalised, with their Second row coming to the referees attention. A warning was issued and shortly after the yellow was brandished, leaving renegades with 14 men for 10 mins.
As Cantabs continued to press Toby threw a long miss pass which was picked off by the Renegades centre who looked to be through, much to Keegans amusement. However the Cantabs cover defence was able to recover and bring the man down 2m out and after some nervous defending the ball was spilt and Cantabs were able to clear.
At the change of ends the score was 40-0 and Cantabs were reminded to continue playing their structure and remain focussed on producing good clean ball. Ben came on to replace Francois on the Right Wing
The scrum has always been a strong facet of Renegades play and it proved the same today as the Cantabs scrum came under increasing pressure, however good scrambling work in the front row from Tozer, Sam and Charlie and at the back from Joe and Toby allowed the backs a chance to show that they could play.
Where the scrum was under pressure the lineout was operating well, with Jonnys arrows finding their mark and Laurence and Joe disrupting well in defence.
On 50 minutes Daren returned to the field and Drew took a break, with the forwards changes reversing and Dean now featuring at Centre. The backs were spreading the ball well with Josh hitting the line to add width and good support from Ben down the right saw him claim a second half hatrick.
Pressure on the Renegades line saw Sam Howes charge down a clearing kick and from the resulting 22 drop out Keegan gathered the ball and set off on a diagonal that saw him crossing over the whitewash untouched a few seconds later.
The Cantabs scores continued to mount, with the last play of the game being a lineout to Cantabs on the Renegades 22 and the first mistake from Jonny as the throw in was called not straight. However Cantabs had done what they have threatened to do for a number of games this season and broken the hundred barrier. A much more structured performance than previous weeks really showing its benefit and hopefully this can be carried on to our game against Ely next weekend.
MOTM for excellent awareness with ball in hand, carrying and commitment, this weeks man of the match goes to the Tozer Show, another excellent display from the 2s mobile prop.
DOTD few nominations for this award today, I have still not fully forgiven Dean for that trip but he is saved by an otherwise excellent and abrasive game, so this weeks award goes to Will Riggs for leaving the fines tin in the unlocked changing room (thankfully the beer kitty was fully recovered)
Scorers
Cantabs: 100 (40)
Tries (16): Schmidt, Evans (4), Eve (2), Wilson (2), James, Jones, Salisbury (3), Carver, Pudney
Conversions (10): Schmidt (5), Carver (5)
Renegades: 0 (0)