Rotherham Titans are back at home following a 4-week absence where they’ll take on northwest outfit Sedgley Park in round 13 of National 1; kick-off at Clifton Lane on Saturday is 2pm.
The fixture will mark the halfway point of the season and mean Rotherham will have played every side in Nat 1, they then will have a decent idea of what’s to come in the second half of the campaign.
Titans should go into the contest with confidence following last week’s impressive, but hard-fought win over Rams.
The Berkshire outfit are one of the league’s top sides and it is never easy to get a result there. Indeed, Titans bonus point success was the first time they have won at Old Bath Road.
Rotherham’s first half performance was outstanding as it laid the foundations for victory with four first class tries and although the second half fightback from Rams was valiant, the South Yorkshire side managed to control matters to see out the game.
Titans will need another huge effort against Sedgley Park if they are to maintain their place at the top of the league, as a quick look at Park’s results this term clearly shows they can beat any side on a given day.
Indeed, the real eye-catching win was their 27-22 win over high-flyers Sale FC, but they have also enjoyed good wins over Leeds Tykes, Bishops Stortford, Leicester Lions, Dings Crusaders and Birmingham Moseley.
There’s a bit of history between the sides as they have met on 16 previous occasions with the games tending to be close, high-scoring affairs.
Last season, although Rotherham managed to beat Park home and away, both games were highly competitive and potentially could have gone either way.
The overall head-to-head as you would expect is close too; Rotherham hold a narrow 8-6 lead with two draws, both of which came at Park Lane.
Going into the match Titans have made 3 changes to their starting XV, all of which come in the forwards.
In the front row hooker Morgan Veness comes in for Luke Cole and he’ll be flanked by Alastair Donkor at loosehead prop with Andrew Foster coming in for Xavier Valentine at tighthead.
The second row sees Frankie Gascoigne link-up with John Okafor who moves from the back row to cover for the injured Harry Gilson-Fox, whilst in the back row Ellis Thomas comes in at blindside to fill the spot vacated by Okafor with skipper Harry Newborn on the openside and Callum Bustin at number 8.
The backline remains the same with scrum half JB Bruzulier and fly half Rob Povey occupying the half back positions.
Lloyd Hayes continues his midfield partnership in the centres with Travis Gordon.
The back three sees Mitchell Lacey-Babalola on the left wing with Jackson Barling on the right and Isaac Shaw at full back.
Looking ahead to the game Titans Backs Coach, Alex Stajka, said:
“We were delighted to come away from Rams with the bonus point win. I thought we started the game exceptionally well and the boys put into practice everything that we had done and spoke about in training.
“Our work rate off the ball was outstanding which in turn led to two of our tries; our ability to stay and execute the kick-battle was good which put them under a lot of pressure and our set piece went well.
“I thought in the second half we possibly let ourselves down a little bit. However, we can’t forget the adversity the team had to cover off as the injuries took effect.
“We had three props on the field at one stage, we had a back row in the midfield, we had Callum Bustin back for his first game after a long layoff, our line-out caller had to go off injured, and another midfielder dislocated a finger.
“So overall, I think the team did well to show composure and resilience to come through the second half.
“That same composure and resilience will be needed against Sedgley Park, because if we make mistakes against them, they are side that will punish you.
“Sedgley are a dangerous team, last season they beat Rosslyn Park 28-0, and they finished second in the league. They’ve had good wins this season including an impressive one over Sale FC and we need to recognise the threat that this team has to offer.
“It will be important that we get our set piece right and we’re able to put them under pressure with our kicking game and decision making; if we can do that, I think we will cause them some issues. I think our backs are starting to find a bit of form, they are improving week-on-week and that puts us in a good position going forwards.”
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 Andrew Foster, 4 Frankie Gascoigne, 5 John Okafor, 6 Ellis Thomas, 7 Harry Newborn (Capt.), 8 Callum Bustin.
Replacements: 16 Luke Cole, 17 Zach Toerien, 18 Xavier Valentine, 19 Jack Baldry, 20 Sinjin Broad.
