Rotherham Titans are back on the road this weekend for the short trip to the west of the county where they’ll take on Yorkshire rivals Leeds Tykes in round 14 of National 1; kick-off at AMT Headingley Stadium on Saturday is 3pm.
This will be Titans first visit to Headingley Stadium since the Championship campaign of 2017/18 where unfortunately for the South Yorkshire side they were relegated at the end of that season.
However, with Rotherham currently top of Nat 1, their aspirations of returning to level 2 of the English game are real.
The fixture will also be Titans final one of 2025, before a well-deserved 2-week break over the Christmas and New Year period.
Titans should go into the game with confidence following recent impressive wins over Rams and Sedgley Park.
Last week’s 40-15 win over Sedgley at Clifton Lane was a tough test, with the outcome only being settled in the final quarter of a pulsating contest, when Rotherham ran in 4 unanswered tries.
Following their promotion into National 1, after lifting the National 2 North title last season, Leeds had a challenging start to life at this level, losing their opening 5 games. However, they have steadied the ship since winning 4 of their next 8 games.
Tykes have impressed with victories over Clifton and Dings Crusaders at home and eye-catching wins over Bishop’s Stortford and Tonbridge Juddians away. Indeed, their loss last week against high-flyers Blackheath was only by 8 points, and they grabbed a bonus point for scoring 4 tries.
So, it’s clear that Leeds will provide the sternness of tests, particularly as it’s a Yorkshire derby and there’s also the Yorkshire Regiment Trophy at stake.
Rotherham have won this prestigious trophy just once before, that came in the 2014/15 season back in the Championship days and only a massive defeat against Leeds can prevent them lifting the trophy again.
There’s quite a bit of history between the sides as they have met on 31 league occasions, with Leeds holding a narrow 17-14 advantage.
However, the last time Rotherham beat Leeds at Headingley came in the 2014/15 season where a penalty each for Jordan Davies and James McKinney saw Rotherham home in not a very thrilling 6-0 win.
Going into the match Titans have made two changes to their starting XV, with one in the backs and one in the forwards.
In the front row hooker Luke Cole comes in for Morgan Veness and he’ll be flanked by Alastair Donkor at loosehead prop with Andrew Foster at tighthead.
In second row Frankie Gascoigne links-up again with John Okafor, whilst in the back row Ellis Thomas starts at blindside with skipper Harry Newborn on the openside and Callum Bustin at number 8.
The backline sees scrum half JB Bruzulier and fly half Rob Povey continue in the half back positions.
Lloyd Hayes and Travis Gordon maintain their partnership in midfield.
Whilst across the back three Luckas Sableman-Blue comes in for Mitchell Lacey-Babalola on the left wing with Jackson Barling on the right wing and Isaac Shaw at full back.
Titans: 15 Isaac Shaw, 14 Jackson Barling, 13 Lloyd Hayes, 12 Travis Gordon, 11 Luckas Sableman-Blue, 10 Rob Povey, 9 JB Bruzulier, 1 Alastair Donkor, 2 Luke Cole, 3 Andrew Foster, 4 Frankie Gascoigne, 5 John Okafor, 6 Ellis Thomas, 7 Harry Newborn (Capt.), 8 Callum Bustin.
Replacements: 16 Morgan Veness, 17 Zach Toerien, 18 Tom Bairstow, 19 Curran Maguire, 20 Sinjin Broad.
