Rotherham Titans continued their preparations for life back in Champ Rugby with an emphatic 71-19 pre-season victory over National 2 East side Oundle at Clifton Lane.

Played out in bright sunshine and perfect conditions for running rugby, the newly promoted Titans produced a dominant display, running in 11 tries to the visitors’ three.

However, despite the comprehensive scoreline, Oundle deserve plenty of credit for their contribution to an entertaining afternoon. They never stopped working and made Rotherham graft hard for their victory, particularly after the interval when the game became a much more even contest.

The Titans made a blistering start and took the lead after just two minutes when full-back Isaac Shaw crossed the whitewash.

Canadian hooker Dewald Kotze soon doubled the advantage, showcasing impressive handling skills as Rotherham began to turn the screw.

Back-rower James Brown then showed good pace to race in for the third before Cameron Nordli-Kelemeti sniped over for try number four.

Rotherham were now in complete control and continued to attack with pace and purpose. Mitchell Lacey-Babalola grabbed a brace, with his two scores sandwiching a penalty try as the Titans continued to exploit gaps in the Oundle defence.

There was still time for another score before the break, with centre Ali Mgijima crossing in first-half injury time to complete an extraordinary opening 40 minutes.

The scoreboard showed 52-0 at half-time, with Rotherham having scored eight unanswered tries.

The second half was a much more competitive affair as both sides made numerous changes to make full use of the match as part of their preparations for the league campaigns ahead.

Rotherham added to their tally just two minutes after the restart when fly-half Russell Bennett dotted down, pushing the Titans beyond the 50-point mark.

But Oundle refused to roll over, and their persistence was rewarded when back-rower Shaun Adendorff bulldozed his way over for their opening try.

The Titans responded positively, with forwards Jack Baldry and Morgan Veness both crossing the whitewash as Rotherham moved beyond 70 points.

To their credit, Oundle continued to battle right to the final whistle. Adendorff grabbed his second try inside the final 10 minutes before former Titan Kieran Frost added another score for the visitors.

With both teams using the contest to experiment and build fitness ahead of their respective league campaigns, the second half became increasingly disrupted, but the competitive spirit remained high.

Eventually, referee Ben Simpson brought proceedings to an end on an absorbing and high-scoring afternoon at Clifton Lane.

The 71-19 victory represents another encouraging step in Rotherham’s pre-season preparations. While there will undoubtedly be tougher tests ahead when Champ Rugby gets underway, the Titans can take plenty of positives from a performance that showcased their attacking ambition, pace and depth.

Reflecting afterwards Titans Harvey Biljon said:

“We came up against a side that we knew would battle for the full 80 minutes and that’s exactly the type of preparation that we need in pre-season.

“Once again there was a whole bunch of players getting their debuts out there today and it’s given me a headache; because as an example if you look at Gus Patterson’s performance last week and you look at Ali Mgijima’s performance this week - those types of selections dilemmas are in play.

“It’s going to be tough for coaches to go away and select, but there’s a long time before the season starts and lots of work for us to put in.

“The first half went well and that’s also testament to all the work the coaches are doing too. Clearly the information is being transferred to the players, and they have taken it on board, and we have also been able to transfer training into games, which is obviously good.

“But as always, we won’t get too excited or carried away, we’ll go away and look at this, and we’ll try to make improvements once again.”

Referee: Ben Simpson

Assistant Referees: John Meredith & Gregg Dawson

Titans: 15 Isaac Shaw, 14 Jackson Barling, 13 Mitchell Lacey-Babalola, 12 Ali Mgijima, 11 Epi Rokodrava, 10 Russell Bennett, 9 Cameron Nordli-Kelemeti, 1 Alastair Donkor, 2 Dewald Kotze, 3 Corrie Barrett, 4 Curran Maguire, 5 John Okafor, 6 James Brown, 7 Jack Baldry (Capt.), 8 Callum Bustin.

Replacements: 16 Zach Toerien, 17 Morgan Veness, 18 Andrew Foster, 19 Louis Guthrie, 20 Harry Stone, 21 Fred Welbury, 22 Lekima Ravuvu, 23 Will Metcalfe, 24 Ben Cambriani, 25 Lloyd Hayes, 26 Peter Hudson-Kowalewicz.

Oundle: 15 Tom Collins, 14 Will Glister, 13 Ewan Baker, 12 Fraser Strachan (Capt.), 11 Rian Hamilton, 10 Matt Arden, 9 Fin Ogden, 1 Harry Morley, 2 Grant Snelling, 3 Toby Trinder, 4 Jac Arthur, 5 Keiran Frost, 6 Shaun Adendorff, 7 Seth Roberts, 8 Chester Owen.

Replacements: 16 Liam Burrows, 17 George Patten, 18 Matt Collins, 19 Will Cardall, 20 Anthony Maka, 21 Harry Nicholls, 22 Theo Haskins, 23 Ben Young, 24 Kaz Henderson, 25 Jamie Annand, 26 Cormac Calnan, 27 Frankie Sleightholme, 28 George Paul.