Round 8 of National 1 sees Rotherham Titans back at Clifton Lane where they’ll take on Tonbridge Juddians for the first time; kick-off on Saturday is 2pm.
Titans go into the game off the back of their first defeat of the season, where last time out they lost 50-31 at Dings Crusaders.
A disappointing first half at Shaftesbury Park saw Rotherham trail 31-5 at the break and although the second half saw a much-improved performance, and indeed one which saw them win the half, they were unable to overturn their first half deficit.
They did however pick up a try bonus point after scores from Isaac Shaw, Jackson Barling, Morgan Veness, Harry Newborn and Mitchell Lacey-Babalola; all of which keeps Rotherham as the leading points scorers in the division.
It’s obvious from other results in National 1 last weekend just how tough this division is and how, on any given day any team can beat another.
Whilst the Kent based visitors will arrive at Clifton Lane for the first time this weekend, they will do so full of confidence following their eye-catching 35-25 win over Plymouth Albion.
Other notable results this term for Tonbridge include away wins over Leicester Lions and Dings Crusaders and a home win over Birmingham Moseley, whilst there was no disgrace in their defeat to leaders Rosslyn Park by 7 points.
Accordingly, Rotherham will be fully aware of the challenge Tonbridge will bring and they will relish the opportunity to meet it head on.
Going into the match Rotherham have made 5 changes to their starting XV, two of which come in the forwards and three across the backline.
In the front row hooker Morgan Veness comes in for Luke Cole and he’ll be flanked by Alastair Donkor at loosehead prop and Andrew Foster at tighthead.
The second row sees Curran Maguire link-up again with Harry Gilson-Fox, whilst in the back row, alongside John Okafor at blindside and skipper Harry Newborn at openside, Ellis Thomas comes in at number 8 for Fraser Hastie.
Along the backline, there’s a new combination in the half backs; Sinjin Broad comes in at scrum half for Noah Cowan and Corben Ollivent comes in at fly half for Joe Cummins, whilst in midfield Travis Gordon is partnered by Mitchell Lacey-Babalola who comes in for Lloyd Hayes.
The back three sees Kieran O’Meara come in for Mitchell Lacey-Babalola on one wing with Jackson Barling on the other and Isaac Shaw at full back.
Looking ahead to the game Titans Harvey Biljon said:
“I don’t want to look back too much on last week; I want to look forward to what we’ve got ahead of us. We’ve had an opportunity to get better in each training session in order to get ready for what’s going to be a tough game against Tonbridge Juddians.
“I think we turned up for 40 minutes and not 80 minutes against Dings and we didn’t respect the opposition enough in the first half and that’s what fundamentally caught us out.
“If Dings can keep that team together for a long period of time, they’ll definitely get a few more results. However, if those players are called back to Bristol that may impact on their season.
“I think throughout the season we’ll see a surprise result most weekends, because when teams put it together, they can produce really good performances. But for us it’s about the next challenge, we can’t do anything about what’s been, we’ve got to focus on what’s in front of us.
“We’ve identified some areas around the game that we need to make improvements on, which I think this group is quite receptive to learning. However, at the same time the group is an honest one and I think they’d already nailed a couple of key points on where we were; so, let’s see how the team respond.
“Tonbridge have shown their ability to beat a top end team in Plymouth Albion and they will I’m sure be buoyed in coming to Clifton Lane full of confidence.
“If you look across key positions in their team, they’ve got some real calibre in their starting XV and I think those players have been very instrumental in their results and performances to date and also as part of their promotion.
“They have a balance across the forwards and backs; they have players in their backline with Premiership experience, and they have players in the pack with Premiership experience. Don’t underestimate how that experience can support the younger players coming through and with that experience they know how to get a result.
“You can’t look at them as a team that’s just come up into the league, you probably have to look at them as a team that has the ability to be even higher up, and we know it’s going to be a great game.
“We are at the end of a long 8-weeks and it’s going to be great to see how the players react and respond, because they are used to winning games and they have become accustomed to winning games. And that’s what is great about this sport, if you’re not honest then any side can turn you over.
“I think the players will have to dig deep this weekend, but at the same time it will be great for us to see how the players come through this.”
Titans: 15 Isaac Shaw, 14 Jackson Barling, 13 Mitchell Lacey-Babalola, 12 Travis Gordon, 11 Kieran O’Meara, 10 Corben Ollivent, 9 Sinjin Broad, 1 Alastair Donkor, 2 Morgan Veness, 3 Andrew Foster, 4 Curran Maguire, 5 Harry Gilson-Fox, 6 John Okafor, 7 Harry Newborn (Capt.), 8 Ellis Thomas.
Replacements: 16 Luke Cole, 17 Zach Toerien, 18 Xavier Valentine, 19 Jack Baldry, 20 Will Metcalfe.
