Cambridge and Chinnor launch Not The Prem Cup

"Appalling" and "not really fair" were the verdicts of Chinnor and Cambridge following their exclusion from this season's Premiership Rugby Cup.

To underline their point, they will play the first of two games for their own Not The Prem Cup at Thame in Oxfordshire on Friday evening, with the return to be played in Cambridge on 1 March 2025.

And there is no question of the two clubs not treating it as a serious game - especially after Chinnor beat the Blood And Sand 57-24 in the Championship at the start of the season.

"Huge kudos to Chinnor and ourselves for putting on a competitive fixture like this," Cambridge head coach Richie Williams told BBC Radio Cambridgeshire.

"The easy thing in this period would have been to try and pick up some friendly games but there's actually a bit of meaning behind these fixtures we're going to have.

"There'll be a little bit of added spice as we're still hurting from that first league fixture when they came to us and embarrassed us."

Only 10 Championship sides were invited to take part in the PRC, with Cambridge, who finished bottom of the second tier in 2023-24, and Chinnor, newly promoted from National League, the two excluded.

It means that they missed out on the chance to test themselves against Premiership opposition, as Cambridge did last season.

There may be an element of rustiness for both teams, who played their most recent games on 19 October - Chinnor losing 34-19 at home to Hartpury University and Cambridge beating Cornish Pirates 29-22 at their own Ellgia Fields ground.

Cambridge won promotion from the third tier two seasons ago on the back of a run of 10 successive wins and have shown signs that they are coming to terms with the step up following a tough debut campaign.

"From our perspective it will be nice to have a hit out again, they've had a little time away from rugby and there's an air of excitement around the first leg of the fixture," said Williams.

"The players are approaching this, I know, as if it's a league game so there's a lot riding on it.

"There's a massive trophy to play for as well so that's (provided) an added edge to the game."

Chinnor director of rugby Nick Easter, a former England international, believes the two clubs will be "substantially disadvantaged" in financial terms, compared to other Championship clubs because of their exclusion from the PRC.

"We are faced with two significant void spells, which has taken the steam out of our momentum. It leaves our squad twiddling their thumbs and makes it difficult to maintain our match-ready status," he told BBC Sport.

"We are grateful to Cambridge in helping us both to address these issues to a certain extent, but again it is disappointing that the RFU have offered us no assistance in finding some suitable fixtures for these substantial voids .

"We have been very heartened by the support of the rugby community in relation to our setback and are confident that they will turn out in force to cheer both sides on and will, no doubt, be rewarded by some cracking entertainment."

Club chair Nick Stainton said Chinnor were on a "voyage of discovery" in the Championship, and the games with Cambridge would help fill extended gaps of five and seven weeks in the fixture schedule, though they need more.

"Despite a bit of creativity around the Not the Prem Cup, we still have many empty weekends," Stainton said.

"We really need another fixture in February-March time before we come back into a Championship block. Despite a bit of creativity around the Not the Prem Cup, we still have many empty weekends."

Friday's game will be refereed by Sara Cox MBE, and Stainton believes her involvement is "a headline in itself".

He added: "There are a couple of people who are not available but we're taking it seriously for lots of reasons: for our supporters, for Cambridge and for the players, particularly.

"Our pre-sale ticket (figures) have been very positive. We will see how many people come to support on the night. Fans have definitely flipped from a sense of frustration to a sense of anticipation."