A come-from-behind victory over lowly Cambridge in their last outing not only sees Nottingham sitting in third place after a stunning start to the new season, but also saw captain David Williams register his hundredth try for the club.

Five wins from their opening six outings has seen a fantastic return from Craig Hammond’s Archers in the new-look, Champ Rugby division, they having begun the campaign with similar, back-to-back scorelines against Doncaster (26-8), and London Scottish (26-7), last month.

Gwyn Parks has been rather precise with the boot, kicking through a dozen conversions already from the first six games, whilst his team-mates have been notching up try-after-try, the only blip thus far being a 31-24 loss at home to Caldy, who the Archers are level with in the league standings.

Ewan Mitchell, on debut, registered the Archers’ first try of the season, as they defeated the Knights with a little ease, further scores coming from Williams, Jack Dickinson, and Michael Green.

The following game, at London Scottish, again bore witness to a quick-fire start, Williams crossing in the opening thirty seconds, with further efforts coming from Dickinson, Harry Graham, and Will Yarnell.

Matchday three however yielded defeat, in what was a 55-point game against visiting Caldy, they following up last season’s double over the Archers, with another win, even if the hosts again led early on.

Finlay Theobald-Thomas, on his debut for the Archers, was seen to dive over the maul following a penalty that had been kicked towards the corner, before Evan Mitchell extended the hosts’ lead.

Leading 12-7 at the break, the Archers slipped up in the second half, Kieran Wilkinson adding his second score for Caldy to tie the game; Harry Graham notched for the Archers before Caldy rallied to first level, then take the lead heading into the final stages.

Samuel Mercer scored for the hosts late on, but it was the visitors who’d have the final say at Lady Bay, Rhys Tudor bagging their fifth, and the decisive score for a 21-24 Caldy win.

Richmond visited Lady Bay in late October, for a game that would see James Cherry become the first number eight to register a hat-trick of tries for the club in over a decade, he saying afterwards that: “I am absolutely thrilled, after last week’s loss to Caldy, which was really disappointing.

“So, to get five points in front of the crowd at The Bay, on a special night for boys like Dan, was just really great for us.”

It would be the visitors who’d open the scoring via a Callum Grieve penalty, before Williams bagged try 99 for the Archers in what was a back-and-forth contest; Cherry’s first two tries of the game, and a Parks penalty, affording the Archers an interval lead.

Tom Threlfall saw his penalty attempt late on sail wide, before he calmed home nerves, and sealed the win, on what was prop Dan Richardson’s 50th appearance; Cherry meanwhile added: “Three tries from a combined distance of three metres, that’s how we like them!

“It’s a product of the team working really hard.

“That first one was an amazing kick from Gwyn, then Jay Ecclesfield throwing me over the line, and the last one’s Jay again on a great tip.

“So, all credit to those boys and all the boys for getting us to one metre from the line.”

November, it has started with another win for Hammond’s side, a fifth in six outings, although it didn’t quite look that way early on, the Archers having to overturn a 17-point deficit to get the dub.

After the win over Cambridge, captain Williams said of both his achievement, and the second half turnaround, that: “It feels really, really good.

“I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t thought about the 100 tries before the game but it was great to get over the line early doors.

“I didn’t have to do much for it, which is testament to the boys inside me.

“It’s awesome to be in that select group of people.”

As for the second half fightback, he added: “We didn’t have an awful lot of ball in that first half and when we did have that ball, we didn’t do anything useful with it.

“We were soft on defence. Stern but appropriate words were said to us at half time.

“We players had to look internally to make sure we solved it.”

A former Archer, Jamie Annand, added a penalty for the hosts as they went in 22-5 to the good at half-time, and that after falling behind to Williams’ hundredth try after ten minutes.

James Cherry got the Archers back swinging upon the restart, before Josh Goodwin crossed for a third Archers score; Sam Mercer then put Archers noses in-front before hosts grabbed their bonus via Levi Reweti.

Michael Green and Sam Green however added late scores for the visitors, the latter following a great run from Ewan Mitchell in his own half to the hosts’ 22, the offload finding its way through to Sam Green, who added the finishing touches.

Annand added a consolation for Cambridge, but it was Nottingham who claimed another victory which sees them level with Caldy, and three points behind the unbeaten leaders, Ealing Trailfinders, who’ve registered five-from-five thus far.

Hammond’s free-scoring Archers welcome mid-table Cornish pirates to Lady Bady on Friday (7 November, 19:45) night, before travelling to Worcester Warriors, who currently sit in fourth, three behind the Archers, the following Saturday (15 November) evening.

*Article provided by Peter Mann (Senior Correspondent).

*Main image @NottinghamRugby David Williams celebrates 100 tries for Nottingham.