Not The Prem Cup: Chinnor and Cambridge launch own head-to-head

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.”