A poor Canterbury side were outplayed in virtually all departments as they plunged to their biggest home defeat of the season.

In the process they conceded six tries and never remotely threatened to salvage anything from a performance which wilted in the face of Cambridge’s superior power and pace.

The city side’s failure to master the basics cost them dearly and as the visitors sailed out of sight in the second half it was inevitable that heads would go down. Tackling, scrummaging and handling were all found wanting and on this evidence it is difficult not to see Canterbury as prime candidates for relegation.

Cambridge, anchored by a dominant scrum and a lively back row, enjoyed a comfortable day out as they pounced on errors, had the better attacking ideas and went home with five league points safely tucked away.

For a city team which in earlier defeats has usually been competitive this game was a real low point and they will need a rapid transformation if they are to survive..

The visitors explosive start took them twelve points clear in eleven minutes. Two tries scored in that early spell were both the result of inexcusably weak tackling which was exploited, first by hard running Number Eight Steve Hipwell and then by back row colleague Joe Collingham.

Canterbury got back in the game briefly in the eighteenth minute when they scored their only try. The combative George Micans did good driving work before Martyn Beaumont made a trademark break from half way before releasing Mason Rosvall. The wing made short work of his opposite number but he was starved of opportunity for much of the game.

There were other moments when the city side threatened but most of them ended in either penalties or bungled handling.

Even worse, they saw fly half Gerhard Boshoff intercept a telegraphed pass from Ollie Best and stroll away for a third try and add his second conversion. Cambridge could claim with some justification that it was pay back for an earlier kick and chase with the referee unable to decide who had won the race for the ball.

The second half, from Canterbury’s viewpoint, was even more forgettable as penalties and errors continued to flow and three more Cambridge tries knocked the heart out of them.

A scrum ball taken against the head and some assured handling set up wing Gray Hircock; scrum half Ross Kevan swooped on a poorly controlled ball at the back of another set piece and when Cambridge countered from a Canterbury kick the pace of full back James Stokes, plus his conversion, completed the rout.

A yellow card reduced the visiting ranks in the late stages but even then Canterbury could make nothing of it despite having territory and opportunity. It was, sadly, symptomatic of their grim day.

Canterbury: M.Beaumont, R.Mackintosh, T.Best (repl A.Veale), C.Horey, M.Rosvall, O.Best (repl G.Hilton), G.Kay (repl T.Best), R.McLeod (repl S.Kenny), S.Rogers (repl N.Wakefield), A,Wake-Smith, R.Cadman, C.Hinkins (repl A.Cathcart), T.Sherson, R,.Ward, G.Micans