Rotherham Titans are back at home this week where they’ll take on Clifton Rugby in a re-arranged fixture from round 15 in National 1; kick-off at Clifton Lane on Saturday is 2pm.
Rotherham will go into the game on the back of an outstanding result against Rosslyn Park where they ran out 36-26 winners at The Rock, the result being all the sweeter as it was the first time Titans have won at the venue.
The bonus point victory was Rotherham’s best performance of the season as they ran in 5 tries through a terrific Mitchell Lacey-Babalola brace and one each for John Okafor, Jack Baldry and Jackson Barling.
Importantly the result keeps the South Yorkshire side in the mix at the top end of the table, as they and others attempt to chase down leaders Plymouth Albion.
That pursuit continues against Clifton, but Rotherham will not underestimate the challenge they’ll present.
Following their promotion into National 1, after lifting the National 2 West title last season, Clifton had a tough start to life at the higher level, winning just one of their opening seven games.
However, they settled down nicely after that winning five of their next eight, with the real stand-out result being a 37-29 win over Rosslyn Park!
Clifton are also good travellers having collected away wins against Sedgley Park, Leicester Lions and Dings Crusaders, showing they can’t be underestimated away from home.
When the teams met back in September the Titans ran out 40-15 winners in a highly competitive game where Clifton made Rotherham graft hard for the spoils and it’s clear to see since that game Clifton have found their feet in National 1.
Going into the match Rotherham have made six changes to their starting XV, with two coming in the backs and four 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 with Xavier Valentine coming in for Andrew Foster at tighthead.
In second row Frankie Gascoigne links-up again with Harry Gilson-Fox, whilst in the back row Curran Maguire comes in for John Okafor at blindside, with Jack Baldry moving from number 8 to openside for Harry Newborn and Callum Bustin returns from injury to go in at number 8.
The backline sees Will Metcalfe come in at scrum half for JB Bruzulier and he’ll link up with fly half Rob Povey in the half back positions.
Lloyd Hayes and Travis Gordon maintain their partnership in midfield.
Whilst across the back three James Norman comes in on the right wing for Jackson Barling, with Mitchell Lacey-Babalola on the left wing, and Isaac Shaw at full back.
Looking ahead to the game Titans Harvey Biljon said:
“We were delighted with the result last week; Rosslyn Park are a very good side and when they turn it on, they can really turn it on, and we saw glimpses of that.
“However, I’ve got to commend not just the 20 players that was involved at Rosslyn, but our whole squad, because the way they prepared the team was exceptional.
“We put a game plan in place, and whilst you can always do that, they only work if your players back them up and go and deliver and our players really stepped up in that space, and they thoroughly deserved the bonus point victory.
“Our discipline was very good, Rotherham have worked very hard on that in the way they communicate with the referee and the way in which we are really trying to work with the officials, and I think that makes a huge difference.
“Clifton will present another challenge; we played them at the start of the season at their place, and it was a really tough game.
“We played well in parts, and this is what we talk about when a game can swing either way on moments, and we had a couple of moments that went our way which allowed us to take the game away.
“Clifton are coming here as a settled side having established themselves in the league. I think they’ve got players in their squad that will be coming back to Clifton Lane in James McKinney and Will Owen and I’m sure they’ll get a warm welcome from everyone at the club.
“Looking at Clifton, it’s definitely going to be a challenge; they have an awkward forward pack that is abrasive and they’ve clearly got threats across their backline with two players we’ve already mentioned, and we know it’s going to be helluva game.”
Titans: 15 Isaac Shaw, 14 James Norman, 13 Lloyd Hayes, 12 Travis Gordon (Capt.), 11 Mitchell Lacey-Babalola, 10 Rob Povey, 9 Will Metcalfe, 1 Zach Toerien, 2 Morgan Veness, 3 Xavier Valentine, 4 Frankie Gascoigne, 5 Harry Gilson-Fox, 6 Curran Maguire, 7 Jack Baldry, 8 Callum Bustin.
Replacements: 16 Luke Cole, 17 Alastair Donkor, 18 Andrew Foster, 19 John Okafor, 20 JB Bruzulier.
