Round 5 of National 1 this weekend sees an in-form Rotherham Titans travel to the East Midlands to take on Leicester Lions at Westleigh Park; kick-off on Saturday is 2pm.
Rotherham continued their impressive start to the campaign last week with a huge 71-12 win over Bishop’s Stortford. The game was a cracker in which the South Yorkshire side ran in 11 tries, 8 of which were scored by the backs.
The bonus point win moved Titans onto to 20 points in the league, alongside Plymouth Albion and Rosslyn Park, however, a slightly better points difference sees Rotherham currently sit at the top.
By contrast Rotherham’s opponents this week Leicester Lions have had a challenging start to the season, albeit against some top sides in the division.
Indeed, Lions last outing in Devon against unbeaten Plymouth Albion saw them collect a well-deserved try bonus point and that will have given them a boost going forward.
As always Rotherham will not be underestimating their opponents, and it will be fresh in their minds that both games against Lions last season proved to be challenging.
In the first game at Westleigh Park Titans trailed at the break before finding their feet in the second half to go on and get the win. Whilst in the return fixture at Clifton Lane, in another hard-fought battle, Rotherham did get the win, but not the bonus point.
Going into this week’s game Rotherham have made 4 changes to their starting XV, two of which come in the forwards.
In the front row hooker Morgan Veness will be flanked by Alastair Donkor at loosehead prop and Tom Bairstow who comes in for Andrew Foster at tighthead.
The second row remains the same which 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 openside to number 8 in place of Callum Bustin, with Curran Maguire coming in at openside.
Along the backline, Sinjin Broad comes in at scrum half for JB Bruzulier 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 James Norman come in on the wing for Mitchell Lacey-Babalola with Jackson Barling on the other wing, and Isaac Shaw at full back.
Looking ahead to the match Titans Harvey Biljon said:
"It's another challenge away from home and it is important not to get caught up with the league table and where they are.
"They play on a wide pitch, and we've got to be ready for a team that's going to throw everything at us.
"I've not played an easy game of rugby yet and we've got to remain honest. If we're honest with our preparation, then we'll be in a good place for the weekend."
Titans: 15 Isaac Shaw, 14 Jackson Barling, 13 Lloyd Hayes, 12 Travis Gordon, 11 James Norman, 10 Rob Povey, 9 Sinjin Broad, 1 Alastair Donkor, 2 Morgan Veness, 3 Tom Bairstow, 4 Frankie Gascoigne, 5 Harry Gilson-Fox, 6 John Okafor, 7 Curran Maguire, 8 Harry Newborn (Capt.).
Replacements: 16 Luke Cole, 17 Zach Toerien, 18 Calvin Mitchell, 19 Mitchell Lacey-Babalola, 20 Noah Cowan.