Cantabs 1XV
Counties 1 · Eastern Counties
League and cup double winners 2025/26. Top-grade rugby in the county's top division.
1XV match centre →
Pre-season training is on now
The home of amateur rugby in Cambridge
Four senior teams, one family club. New and returning players of all abilities are welcome, and your first session is as simple as turning up on a Tuesday.
New here?
Your first session
No trial, no standard to meet, no forms before you've had a run. Whether you've played for years or never touched a rugby ball, this is how you start.
Step one
Turn up
It's free while you decide. Tuesday or Thursday, 6:45pm at Sedley Taylor Road. Boots if you have them, trainers if you don't.
Step two
Train
Join the session, meet the squad, find your level. Stay on after Thursday training: the bar's open and the club eats together.
Step three
Play Saturday
When you're ready, there's a shirt in one of four teams, from competitive first-team rugby to your first game in years.
Students
Rugby for students
Club rugby, not college rugby
Anglia Ruskin, the colleges, the Biomedical Campus: Cantabs is about ten minutes by bike from all of them, with Saturday league rugby, a clubhouse and concessionary rates for students. Come for a term and see.
1946 · 2026
Our eightieth season
Founded in 1946 by old boys of the Cambridge and County High School for Boys, now Hills Road Sixth Form College, and at Sedley Taylor Road since 1953. Eighty years on, Cantabs is still what it was built to be: a proudly amateur club where anyone can play rugby, and everyone belongs after the final whistle. And the eightieth season starts with silverware on the shelf: 2025/26 finished as league and cup double winners.
Four teams · 2026/27
A team for every player
From top-grade county rugby to your first competitive game, every squad trains together and drinks together.
Cantabs 2XV
Eastern Counties 1 West
Competitive league rugby and the proving ground for the top grade.
2XV match centre →Cantabs 3XV
Eastern Counties 2 West
Where comebacks and debuts happen. All abilities, genuinely.
3XV match centre →Cantabs Women
New for 2026/27
Women's rugby at Cantabs starts now. Be part of it from day one.
Get involved →
More than the eighty minutes
Club life
A clubhouse bar, Saturday teas and eighty years of stories. We're a family club, with a children's area in the clubhouse and families welcome at everything we do. You don't have to play to belong here.
Thursday team dinners
After training the whole club eats together. Every week, all teams, one table.
Annual beer festival
Our own festival at Sedley Taylor Road, open to everyone.
Tour and socials
A yearly tour and a social calendar that runs right through the season.
Two ways in
Membership
Play or support, whatever fits your life. Your first sessions cost nothing while you decide, and concessions are always available: just ask.
Player
Season membership- All match fees and referee fees covered
- Training twice a week, year-round
- Strength & conditioning and physio
- Playing shirts provided
- Everything in Social, too
Social
Season membership · concessions available- The clubhouse, the bar and the people
- Reduced event and clubhouse hire rates
- Club tours and the full social calendar
- VP lunches and more throughout the year
- Fancy a game? Play the odd match as a social member
In brief
Cantabs at a glance
Cantabrigian RUFC, known to everyone as Cantabs, is an amateur rugby union club in Cambridge, England, founded in 1946. Three men's senior teams, a new women's team, one family clubhouse at Sedley Taylor Road.
- Club
- Cantabrigian RUFC (Cantabs), est. 1946, proudly amateur
- Where
- 23 Sedley Taylor Road, Cambridge CB2 8PW, off Long Road near Addenbrooke's Hospital
- Teams
- Men's 1XV (Counties 1 Eastern Counties), 2XV (Eastern Counties 1 West), 3XV (Eastern Counties 2 West), Cantabs Women (new 2026/27)
- Training
- Tuesdays and Thursdays, 6:45pm, all abilities, first sessions free
- Matches
- Saturdays, September to April, home kick-offs usually 3pm
- Membership
- Season membership for players, social membership for everyone else, concessions available
- Honours
- League and cup double winners 2025/26
- Students
- Welcome from Anglia Ruskin, Cambridge University and the Biomedical Campus; concessionary rates, student page
- Contact
- WhatsApp · contact@cantabs.co.uk · @cantabsrugbyclub
Questions people ask
Who can join Cantabs?
Anyone aged 18 or over. With three men's teams at different levels and a new women's team, there is a place for complete beginners, returning players and experienced players alike. Non-players can join as social members.
Do I need experience?
No. Cantabs welcomes players of all abilities, from people who have never played to those coming back after years away. The coaches will find your level.
When and where is training?
Tuesday and Thursday evenings at 6:45pm at Sedley Taylor Road, Cambridge CB2 8PW. Just turn up; your first sessions are free while you decide.
How does membership work?
Two kinds: season membership for players, covering match fees, training, strength and conditioning and physio, and social membership for supporters and families, with concessions available. Message us and we'll talk you through it. Your first sessions are free while you decide.
Is there a women's team?
Yes. Cantabs Women is new for 2026/27 and recruiting founding players now. Get in touch to be part of it from day one.
I'm a student. Is Cantabs for me?
Yes. Students from Anglia Ruskin, the University of Cambridge and the Biomedical Campus play here, alongside or instead of midweek university rugby. The ground is about ten minutes by bike from East Road, the colleges and the station, and concessionary rates are available. See the student page.
How do I get started?
Come to training on a Tuesday or Thursday at 6:45pm, or message us on WhatsApp or email contact@cantabs.co.uk and we'll make sure someone is expecting you.
This is the bit where you join
See you Tuesday
Tell us you're coming and we'll make sure someone's expecting you, or just turn up. Either works.
Message us on WhatsApp
Our preferred way to hear from you. Quickest reply, straight from the club.
Training: Tuesday & Thursday, 6:45pm
Ground: Sedley Taylor Road, Cambridge CB2 8PW
Email: contact@cantabs.co.uk
@cantabsrugbyclub
Club life as it happens, on Instagram, TikTok and Facebook. Three moments from this year below; the rest is on @cantabsrugbyclub.