Rotherham Titans maintained their unbeaten home record with a 47-17 win over a spirited Loughborough Students side on a sunny afternoon at Clifton Lane.
Titans’ points came way of a hat trick by skipper Zak Poole, and one each for Sam Boxhall, Tom Lewis, George Tucker and Joe Carlisle, the latter also added 12 points from the tee.
The win keeps Rotherham on the heels of league leaders Hull and should the East Yorkshire side make any slip-ups on the run-in, the South Yorkshire outfit will look to step-in and take advantage.
The game itself saw Roth start brightly as they raced into a 14-0 lead inside the opening 15 minutes.
The first try came courtesy of the Titans pack as they powerfully drove over from a scrum 10 metres out; number 8 Zak Poole dotted down from the base to seal the deal and fly half Joe Carlisle tagged over the extras.
Roth’s second score came from turnover ball on their own 22 which saw Zak Poole collect and make good ground before Tom Lewis and Marcus Payne combined to send it out wide to scrum half Sam Boxhall; he charged home from 40 metres, with Carlisle adding the conversion.
Loughborough, who looked bright and energetic all afternoon, stunned Roth moments later when full back George Barber showed tremendous tenacity to shake-off a number of tackles before sending in winger Darragh Walsh to score.
However, Titans soon re-established control and scored two further converted tries before the break. The first of which came after full back Sam Veall made significant ground down the right after collecting around halfway, before he popped a nice inside pass to Tom Lewis for him to show a good turn of foot to race in.
The bonus point try saw Veall involved again; he took play up to the line before Sam Boxhall popped out a pass from the base to send in Zak Poole near the corner. Carlisle impressed with the difficult conversion to send his side in at the break leading 28-5.
The second half saw the visitors start with good energy and intent and when winger Ryan Apps crossed the whitewash in the far corner following a long miss-pass; it was a fair reward for the Students’ efforts.
As the game entered the final 10 minutes a flurry of scores followed. On 71 minutes Titans’ skipper Zak Poole showed good awareness to take a quick-tap penalty to run in from close range for his hat trick, before two minutes later the visitors replied with their third try when centre Archie Heard intercepted and ran it home from 55 metres, both tries were converted.
As the game entered its final stages Rotherham finished off in style as they added two more tries to complete a fine afternoon’s work.
Firstly, Joe Carlisle showed some silky skills before dotting down next to the posts and then converting his try for a perfect 6 from 6 for him.
Then in the final play; following a tremendous break downfield from replacement scrum half Ollie Fisher, the ball was fed out wide to George Tucker who just managed to squeeze over in the corner. Sam Boxhall took over kicking duties following Joe Carlisle leaving the field, but unfortunately for him his effort drifted wide.
Overall Rotherham will have been pleased with their performance and the result, but they will have been especially pleased with the players that have come into the squad in recent weeks and impressed in the manner they have.
Speaking immediately after the game Titans Adam Byron concluded:
“We are really pleased with the result and in terms of control I think that’s one of our best performances of the year.
“Getting an early lead was important and it was pleasing that we did, as that’s something we’ve spoken about and once we got that lead I don’t think we ever looked in danger after that.
“I thought we were really clinical today, every time we were in their 22 we seemed to come away with points and the boys managed the game really well.
“There were one or two occasions when it looked like Loughborough may get a couple of quick scores to get themselves back into it, but the lads scrambled back well and stopped them getting any momentum.
“It’s also pleasing to keep our unbeaten record at home; this is something that you want to build your season on and making your home ground a fortress is so important and we’ll try to stay unbeaten here for the rest of the year.”
Referee: Tim Allatt
Attendance: 317
Yellow Card: Poole (Titans)
Titans: Poole (3T), Boxhall (T), Lewis (T), Tucker (T), Carlisle (T, 6C)
Loughborough: Walsh (T), Apps (T), Heard (T), Tom Smith (1C)
Titans: 15 Sam Veall, 14 Tom Lewis, 13 Jamie Cooke, 12 Harry Dunne (Taylor 40), 21 George Tucker, 10 Joe Carlisle (Boxhall 78), 9 Sam Boxhall (Fisher 71), 19 Tom Richardson (Quigley 39) (Richardson 70), 2 Jack Bergmanas (Newborn 54), 27 Rikki Stout, 4 Theo Nwosu-Hope, 5 Lewis Allan, 6 Marcus Payne, 7 Keifer Laxton (Williams 70), 8 Zak Poole (Capt.).
Replacements: 16 Harry Newborn, 17 Colin Quigley, 18 Matti Williams, 22 Olly Fisher, 20 Lewis Taylor.
Loughborough: 15 George Barber, 14 Ryan Apps, 13 Ollie Smith (Heard 50), 12 Archie Heard (Burgwin 48), 11 Darragh Walsh, 10 Tom Smith (Capt.), 9 Charlie Briers (Law 40), 1 Seb Smith, 2 Jamie Harding (Westmacott 40), 3 Josh Toms (Harri Williams 33), 4 Toby Adlington, 5 Jack Shine, 6 Anthony Pedlar, 7 Nick Jennings, 8 Fergus Dick (Scharink 49).
Replacements: 16 Mink Scharink, 17 Harri Williams, 18 Sam Westmacott, 21 Jonny Law, 20 Iwan Burgwin.
Photo Credit: Steve Mettam