Round 6 of National 1 this weekend sees the last two unbeaten sides in the division clash when Rotherham Titans hosts Rosslyn Park at Clifton Lane; kick-off on Saturday is 2pm.
Rotherham and Rosslyn are locked together at the top on 25 points following both sides perfect starts to the season, with each collecting five bonus point wins from five games.
Titans come into the match on the back of a tough 41-25 win over Leicester Lions at Westleigh Park, where the South Yorkshire side had to battle hard for their 7-try success in difficult, windy conditions.
The new season has seen Rotherham in free-scoring mode; they’ve averaged almost 50 points per game and currently sit at the top in terms of most points scored.
However, those credentials will be tested this week when Rosslyn Park come to town.
The Londoners have an impressive record to date, both in attack and defence and they’ve caught the attention of everyone with some eye-catching wins.
Excellent victories away to Tonbridge Juddians and Blackheath were followed up with last week’s notable win over Plymouth Albion and Park will hold no fears in coming to Clifton Lane.
Indeed, the last time these two sides met was the final game of last season, where on a warm afternoon at Priory Lane Park put in an outstanding effort to beat Rotherham by 56-26.
The visitors also hold a slender 4-3 lead in the league head-to-head.
So, there’s little doubt Rosslyn Park will present a challenge; but this Rotherham squad enjoy a challenge and indeed it seems the greater the challenge the greater the performance!
It will be intriguing to see how this game plays out.
Going into the match Rotherham have made 5 changes to their starting XV, three of which come in the forwards.
In the front row hooker Morgan Veness will be flanked by Zach Toerien who comes in for Alastair Donkor at loosehead prop and Andrew Foster who comes in for Tom Bairstow at tighthead.
The second row remains the same and sees Frankie Gascoigne link-up with Harry Gilson-Fox, whilst in a reshuffled back row, alongside John Okafor at blindside, skipper Harry Newborn moves from number 8 to openside flanker for Curran Maguire and Ellis Thomas starts at number 8.
Along the backline, JB Bruzulier comes in at scrum half for Sinjin Broad and he’ll pair-up with Rob Povey in the half backs, whilst in midfield Travis Gordon continues alongside Lloyd Hayes.
The back three sees Mitchell Lacey-Babalola come in on the wing for James Norman with Jackson Barling on the other wing, and Isaac Shaw at full back.
Looking ahead to the match Titans Harvey Biljon said:
“I’m expecting a lot from Rosslyn Park; they’ve played some big teams, and they’ll be battle-hardened and ready for this game. We already know about the Premiership and Championship experience they have, and everyone knows about Charlie Mulchrone’s and Charlie Walker’s etc…
“They are clearly very organised; you can see their attack is functioning well and they’re making it real difficult for teams to score against them. So, there’s a reason why they are top-of-the-table, and they have clearly kicked-on from where they were last season.
“The wins they’ve had away at Tonbridge Juddians and Blackheath and at home to Plymouth Albion obviously stand out, because all those games are tough games and the league table doesn’t lie, they are clearly putting a lot of work in.
“They have a real balance, you don’t beat Plymouth unless you’ve got a forward pack that can step up, and you don’t take the scores that they have if you don’t have a backline. They’re a very balanced outfit and if you’re not on it they will hurt you.
“We’ve planned our training and aligned it appropriately this week and the coaches have been very specific and clear around the messages we wanted to deliver.
“These are the games that you want to be part of and what’s exiting about it is we get to have it at Clifton Lane. How good is it that we are being talked about and being part of a top-of-the-table clash after five games. That’s brilliant and that’s exciting - let’s embrace the challenge.”
Titans: 15 Isaac Shaw, 14 Jackson Barling, 13 Lloyd Hayes, 12 Travis Gordon, 11 Mitchell Lacey-Babalola, 10 Rob Povey, 9 JB Bruzulier, 1 Zach Toerien, 2 Morgan Veness, 3 Andrew Foster, 4 Frankie Gascoigne, 5 Harry Gilson-Fox, 6 John Okafor, 7 Harry Newborn (Capt.), 8 Ellis Thomas.
Replacements: 16 Luke Cole, 17 Calvin Mitchell, 18 Xavier Valentine, 19 Curran Maguire, 20 Sinjin Broad.
