Cornish Pirates coach Joe Walsh says the club are facing an important time in their quest for a play-off place.
The top six sides in the Champ will reach the play-offs, with the top two automatically progressing to the semi-finals and the next four competing to join them.
Pirates are currently sixth in the table with seven games to play – part of a group of four teams from fifth to eighth separated by just three points.
They return to action on Saturday at third-from-bottom Richmond after a three-week break from league action punctuated by a friendly against Prem side Harlequins on 7 March.
“It is disappointing in hindsight that we couldn’t have capitalised on more of those games earlier in the season that maybe would have given us a little bit of a cushion between us and the teams around us, even by an extra two or three points,” Walsh told BBC Radio Cornwall
“But the situation in front of our faces that we’ve got to go out and get the results, so that starts this weekend and finding any sort of way we have to get the results and get the points on the board.
“You talk about winning your home games, we only have three left, so that’s against difficult opposition as well.
“We’ve got Worcester coming in to the Mennaye next week, that’s going to be hopefully a sold out crowd and against them who are going to be very motivated as well to make sure that they try and secure a second-place spot for themselves.
“So the next two weeks in particular are going to be really formative in how the last block goes for us, and it’s just going to be about creating opportunities and capitalising on them over the next two or three games and into the rest of the block.”
It is the first season the play-offs have been reintroduced to the second tier and comes after Champ clubs were removed from the Premiership Rugby Cup.
The league has also increased to 14 teams after the reintroduction of Worcester and the promotion of Richmond.
And while the lack of a cup competition means there are fewer games, Walsh says it also means there is less chance to experiment.
“Every game you play now is impactful on your league position,” he said.
“Last year with those six Prem Cup games integrated into your season you had the opportunity to rotate a couple bodies in, try a couple of things out, see if you could build an area of your game that would be functioning when you came back to the Championship.
“Now, every game you play, bar your occasional friendly like Quins, has an impact on your final league position.
“So that has been a different challenge for us, we’ve had to be on and delivering and executing every week without any opportunity to mix it up really.
“But I think the playoffs has definitely brought some energy to the league.”
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