Round 3 of National 1 this weekend sees Rotherham Titans travel to the South West where they’ll take on Clifton RFC for the first time; kick-off at Station Road is 3pm.
Going into Saturday’s game Rotherham’s confidence should be building nicely following victories in their opening two matches.
An impressive opening day success at Sale FC was bettered last week with a stunning 52-12 win in the Yorkshire derby against old rivals Leeds Tykes.
Titans ran in 8 tries against Leeds, as backs and forwards combined well in a dominant performance that saw the backs share the spoils with the forwards, scoring 4 tries apiece.
Clifton are new to National 1 this season following their promotion from National 2 West last term.
The Bristol based outfit were crowned Champions following victory over Exeter University at home on the last day of the season, making a return to tier 3 for the first time since 1997.
Although the title battle went to the final game, in effect the turning point of the season came in April when Clifton defeated Camborne 46-26 at home to become league leaders after having chased the Cornish side for the majority of the campaign.
Clifton’s start to National 1 however has been challenging, as the fixture list has pitted them against two of the top sides in the league, in Blackheath and Plymouth Albion.
And whilst they have come out second best on both occasions, no doubt they will have taken learnings from those defeats and be eager to quickly get up to speed in the division.
Going into the game Rotherham have made 3 changes to their starting XV, all of which come in the forwards.
In the front row hooker Morgan Veness will be flanked by Alastair Donkor at loosehead prop and Xavier Valentine at tighthead prop as he comes in for Andrew Foster.
The second row sees Frankie Gascoigne link-up with Fraser Hastie who replaces the injured Curran Maguire, whilst in the back row alongside John Okafor at blindside and Harry Newborn at openside, Ellis Thomas comes in at number 8 for Callum Bustin.
Along the backline, JB Bruzulier and Rob Povey continue their pairing at half back, whilst in midfield Lloyd Hayes is partnered by Travis Gordon.
The back three sees Mitchell Lacey-Babalola and Jackson Barling on the wings, with Isaac Shaw at full back.
Titans: 15 Isaac Shaw, 14 Jackson Barling, 13 Lloyd Hayes, 12 Travis Gordon, 11 Mitchell Lacey-Babalola, 10 Rob Povey, 9 JB Bruzulier, 1 Alastair Donkor, 2 Morgan Veness, 3 Xavier Valentine, 4 Frankie Gascoigne, 5 Fraser Hastie, 6 John Okafor, 7 Harry Newborn (Capt.), 8 Ellis Thomas.
Replacements: 16 Luke Cole, 17 Zach Toerien, 18 Andrew Foster, 19 Jack Baldry, 20 Will Metcalfe.
