Cambridge progress buoys Crooks

Cambridge have gone seven league games undefeated

Cambridge Rugby coach Bob Crooks has admitted he is surprised by how quickly his side have gelled together.

Cambridge brought in more than a dozen players over the summer but it has not taken long to mould them into a unit.

Crooks told BBC Radio Cambridgeshire: "I knew we'd go up a level, but I didn't expect us to be at this level until next season.

"We are ahead of the game at the moment, but we've got to be because we're chasing one spot."

Cambridge are fourth in National League Two and have an outside chance of taking the singular promotion place, currently occupied by Redruth with a 16-point advantage over the East Anglians.

Second-from-bottom Southend make the trip to West's Renault Park on Saturday but Crooks says the derby fixture holds no fears.

"They don't frighten me, they don't scare me at all. We'll win and we will achieve our targets, which is bonus points."

Cambridge face second-placed Birmingham & Solihull on the last day of the season and Crooks is now confident they can catch the Bees.

"We need Birmingham to drop a couple of bonus points and for us to keep picking up bonus points in order for that last game to be the final which we think it should be," he said.