As the hard yards are being put in over at Lady Bay ahead of the start of this season’s Premiership Rugby Cup campaign, Nottingham RFC Head Coach, Craig Hammond, took a little time out to look back at the start of the Archers’ season, and ahead to what’s to come.

Split into five groups of four apiece, Hammo’s charges find themselves with a tough opener, on 1 November, when they welcome the current Championship leaders, Coventry; this is followed quickly by a trip to Franklin Gardens, home of Premiership champions, Northampton Saints (9 November), then an exciting, East Midlands derby to round off this phase, Lady Bay welcoming last seasons runners-up, Leicester Tigers.

It’s a spell of action which excites the Archers boss, more after a tough, yet action-packed, start to their league campaign; looking ahead to the Premiership Cup Hammo said: “We’ve got Coventry, Saints, and Tigers, before returning to league action against Bedford.

“It’s going to be a massive cup campaign, and some really exciting games ahead.

“Coventry, there’ll be a big crowd for it, then we go to Franklin Gardens in front of what’ll hopefully be big crowd, then we welcome the Tigers in front of what I’m hoping will be 3 ½ to 4 thousand here at Lady Bay.

“There’s a lot of excitement for the cup, and it’s a great opportunity for those guys who are coming back from injury, or not played as much.

“I’ll be looking at getting a good balance throughout the squad as a whole.”

As for the games themselves, Hammo added: “The energy around the club, which the lads are creating, shows that things are working, and they’re gaining confidence from the minutes they’re getting.

“(Current Championship leaders) Coventry, that’ll be a test for the lads and setting up nicely for the games against the two Premiership clubs.

“Saints, they were worthy champions last season, the Tigers, they’re flying high at the top of the league this time around, so yes, it’s going to be pretty exciting, for all of us, coaches and players alike, and we’re really looking forward to it.”

In the Championship meanwhile, the Archers finished their first phase with a winning, 3-2 record, sitting fifth in the table, and just eight points off those early pace-setters, Coventry.

Despite narrow home defeats, on the opening day, and matchday four, at home to Cornish Pirates (24-18) and Ealing Trailfinders (36-21) respectively, the victories have been in exciting encounters against Doncaster Knights (30-14; Harry Graham 2 tries, Matthew Arden 1 penalty & 2 conversions), Ampthill (38-14; David Williams 2 tries, Arden 1 try & 4 conversions), in back-to-back wins, and under those Friday Night Lights, in their last outing, when at London Scottish (48-14; Samuel Williams 2 tries, Arden 2 penalties & 5 conversions).

Looking back at those first five matches Hammo added: “Although it’s been a great start, it was frustrating for us not getting the win over the Pirates, at home.

“I thought we were really unlucky, although it was good to get the bonus point from it.

“We picked up a couple of good, five-point wins on the road, against Knights, and against Scottish (last Friday night), and that helps, picking up good performances, and wins, on the road.

“The week before (at Ealing), we just weren’t at the races, and they’re a really good team for a reason, but overall, a mixed bag of results come the end of block one.

“Winning the three games though, and sitting fifth, that’s not too bad really, more considering we’ve played some top teams and gone well against them.”

Despite the minutes being put in by Archers players, Hammo is happy with the shifts being put in by them, and with their on-field form.

“The set-pieces, scrums and line-outs have been functioning really well,” Hammo continued.

“Most of the games we’ve had have been pretty physical, lots of our momentum has been stopped by physicality.

“Dave Ross, our attacks and backs coach, has really got our attacking players really flying and seeing some good tries and I’ve seen some really good positives, some improvements on last year, having gone really hard in pre-season with what is a relatively young squad.

“We’re not massive, depth-wise, so there’s a lot of guys who are playing a lot of rugby.”

Meanwhile, on-the-field-of-play, the Archers players have been busy, fifteen players scoring points, twenty-two tries registered thus far, with fly-half Matthew Arden leading the way having notched a try, five penalties, and kicking some thirteen conversions’ wingers Harry Graham and David Williams lead the way in try-scoring with three apiece, whilst there’s a pair of tries for that of hooker Harry Clayton, lock Thomas Manz, centre Charlie Myall, and flanker Samuel Williams.

With Premiership Cup rugby against Coventry, Northampton Saints, and Leicester Tigers, taking up the next three matches for the Archers, Nottingham’s flagship rugby union side will return to league action, with a home game at Lady Bay, against Bedford Blues, at the end of next month (30 November).

For all information regarding the Archers, including purchasing tickets, visit their website here and visit their socials on Facebook here and X here.

*Article provided by Peter Mann (Senior Correspondent).

*Main image @NottinghamRugby running hard last time out against London Scottish.