Blackheath 31 Titans 24

Rotherham Titans put in a huge effort before eventually losing 31-24 to Blackheath on a bright, but windy afternoon at The Utilita at Well Hall.

Titans picked up 2 bonus points for their endeavours, scoring four tries through Harry Newborn, Cuchulain Livingstone, Ronnie Du Randt and Charlie Capps.

The defeat sees Richmond crowned as worthy National 1 champions and Rotherham slip into third in the table.

The game could have gone either way and had Rotherham been more clinical with their opportunities, then Richmond would have had to wait at least another week before sealing their deserved accolade.

Indeed, it was Rotherham that started the game much the brighter as they got the scoreboard moving inside 5 minutes when hooker Harry Newborn dotted down under the sticks following a short pass from scrum half JB Bruzulier.

However, Blackheath were quick to respond, and they soon took the lead with two tries from full back Augustin Slowik, although the second try began with a forward pass that unfortunately for Rotherham the officials missed.

Club’s third try however was a wonderfully worked move which began deep inside their own half and included a number of smart passes and a chip over the top, before winger Jake Lloyd finished off for the try of the match.

Rotherham nibbled back shortly after when John Okafor charged down a clearing kick, with Cuchulain Livingstone on hand to gather and nip in to score.

Titans would have been disappointed with their part in Club’s fourth try which allowed livewire scrum half Jordan Burns to race in for the bonus point.

However, the final score of the half saw Rotherham narrow the gap after good work in the build up from Ellis Thomas and Jamie Cooke took play up to the Blackheath line, before a nice little pass from Rob Povey sent in Ronnie Du Randt for a smart try.

Coming out for the second half with the elements in their favour and trailing by just 7 points (24-17), Rotherham would have been more than hopeful of overturning their deficit.

However, after spending the opening 20 minutes pretty much camped in the Blackheath half of the pitch, a combination of reasons meant they didn’t score a point in this period.

That made the next score a difficult pill to swallow for Rotherham, when essentially for the first time inside the Titans 22 in the second half, number 8 Tom Baldwin finished off from a breakaway.

Nevertheless, the Titans players kept on battling, as they have for the full season, and close to full time they received a just reward when prop forward Charlie Capps bulldozed his way over to secure 2 points for the South Yorkshire side.

Titans defeat ensured Richmond would be crowned Champions and there’s no doubt they are worthy winners and Rotherham Titans send their congratulations and best wishes for their return to Championship status next term.

Indeed, Rotherham will be able to do that face-to-face next Saturday when Richmond visit Clifton Lane for Titans final home game of the season.

Speaking after the match Titans Harvey Biljon said:

“I am really pleased we have come away with 2 points in what was a really difficult fixture. I think there would have been a lot of emotion around the game, a lot of people trying to work out permutations as to where we are in the league and who’s going to be in contention and things like that, there was a lot of noise going on.

“So, the fact that we could stick at it for 80 minutes and put ourselves in a position to get two bonus points today was pretty important.

“Blackheath have hit their stride at the back end of the season with some great results against Dings, Rams and against us now too and you could definitely see there was a real emotion in the Blackheath team.

“Blackheath were celebrating that a whole host of their players had played a significant number of games and they had some players making their final appearance at home today. Their DOR, James Shanahan, was also in charge for the last time at home as he is moving on next season, and you could see there was a lot of emotion.

“So, I’m really proud of the way our players stood up to that challenge and we’ll go away probably not frustrated with the opposition, but frustrated with ourselves, because we definitely missed and left opportunities out there.”

Titans: Newborn (T), Livingstone (T), Du Randt (T), Capps (T), Hayes (2C)

Blackheath: Slowik (2T), Lloyd (T), Burns (T), Baldwin (T), Ffitch (3C)

Yellow Card: Slowik (Blackheath)

Attendance: 925

Referee: Jamie Parr

Assistant Referees: Andrew MacNeaney & Michael Maple

Titans: 15 Jack Townend, 14 Ronnie Du Randt, 13 Lloyd Hayes, 12 Jamie Cooke, 11 Cuchulain Livingstone, 10 Rob Povey, 9 JB Bruzulier (Naylor 68), 1 Charlie Capps © (Toerien 27) (Capps 59), 2 Harry Newborn (Wright 71), 3 Andrew Foster (Stout 27) (Foster 55), 4 Zak Poole © (Maguire 63) (Poole 71), 5 Harry Gilson-Fox, 6 John Okafor, 7 Travis Gordon, 8 Ellis Thomas.

Replacements: 16 Ben Wright, 17 Zach Toerien, 18 Rikki Stout, 19 Curran Maguire, 20 James Naylor.

Blackheath: 15 Augustin Slowik, 14 Jake Lloyd, 13 Oskar Hirskyj-Douglas, 12 Markus Burcham, 11 Jake Hennessey (Fielding 55), 10 Tom Ffitch (Hennessey 71), 9 Jordan Burns (Daly 71), 1 Archie Holland (Davis 54), 2 Alex Witchell (Walker 55), 3 Andrew Boye (Marsh 54), 4 Tom Stradwick, 22 Tex Cavubati, 6 Josh Smart, 7 Noah Sloot 8 Tom Baldwin ©.

Replacements: 16 Ollie Walker, 17 Will Davis, 24 Rory Marsh, 19 Jack Daly, 20 Leo Fielding.

Rams 30 Titans 19

Rotherham Titans put in a huge physical effort against a good Rams side before ultimately falling to a 30-19 defeat on a mild afternoon at Old Bath Road.

Rams outscored the Titans by 4 tries to 3 with Rotherham’s dot downs coming from Travis Gordon, Tomasi Tanumi and Ronnie Du Randt.

The outcome of the game could have been very different had Rotherham finished off some good opportunities and the bounce of the ball been more favourable for the South Yorkshire side, but some days just don’t go your way and that’s rugby.

Rams took the lead as early as the third minute when Rotherham, who looked to be going close themselves just 5 metres away from the Rams line, threw a pass that went astray; the home side hacked downfield before a foot rack saw full back Zach Clow hacked on again and a nice bounce enabled him to crash over.

Rams scored two further first tries in the first half that Rotherham would have been disappointed to have conceded.

Missed tackles on both occasions saw firstly hooker Max Hayman crash over from close range before scrum half Ollie Hodgson dotted down under the sticks.

One thing that can never be questioned with this Rotherham side is the heart, determination and the desire they have to keep battling for the full 80 minutes.

Before the break they gained some reward for their efforts with a superb try from back rower Travis Gordon, who after receiving a nice pass from Jamie Cooke 40 metres out, showed good pace and awareness to dot down.

Coming out for the second half and trailing 17-5 Rotherham would have hoped to have scored first.

However, that was not to be as another bouncing ball fell favourably for the home side and former Titan Sam Boxhall was on hand to go over next to the posts for his side’s bonus point try.

Rams advantage was extended to 27-5 shortly after when Fraser Honey knocked over a long-range penalty.

Rotherham continued to graft hard however and secured their second try with a nice move through the backs which saw Tomasi Tanumi finish off for a lovey score.

Rams kept the scoreboard ticking over with another Fraser Honey penalty, but Rotherham narrowed the gap again late on when JB Bruzulier fed a pass out wide for winger Ronnie Du Randt to score.

Although the game had gone now, one more try for Rotherham would have seen them grab a well-deserved 2 points from the game.

Unluckily for them however, when Lloyd Hayes broke through at the death to seal the fourth try, referee Jamie Parr blew to bring play back, as he explained he had got in the way.

Reflecting after the game Harvey Biljon said:

“It was helluva game, you could see the desperation in the Rams team and how energised they were for the game and give them credit, they came out and played.

“For us I think it was a game of moments because we scored three great tries, but we also left three or four tries out there that would have also been brilliant scores.

Sometimes you are just struggling to get those over the line and for whatever reasons today we just didn’t get the bounce of the ball.

“There were two opportunities before half time in which one of them we were held up and then with 20 minutes of the game to go we had another two outstanding opportunities. If we get those scores we’re probably looking at a different outcome.

“The underlying point however is Rams deserved their win on the day and it gives us opportunity to go away and look at some areas of the game where we can get better and as a team we need to adapt to what’s going on out on the field.”

Titans: Gordon (T), Tanumi (T), Du Randt (T), Hayes (2C)

Rams: Clow (T), Hayman (T), Hodgson (T), Boxhall (T), Honey (2C, 2P)

Yellow Card: Gilson-Fox (Titans)

Attendance: 803

Referee: Jamie Parr

Assistant Referees: Henry Lowis & Ben McNamara

Titans: 15 Jack Townend, 14 Ronnie Du Randt, 13 Lloyd Hayes, 12 Jamie Cooke, 11 Luckas Sableman-Blue (Tanumi 52), 10 Rob Povey, 9 JB Bruzulier, 1 Charlie Capps © (Toerien 52), 2 Harry Newborn, 3 Andrew Foster (Logavatu 74), 4 Zak Poole © (Kivalu 64), 5 Harry Gilson-Fox, 6 John Okafor, 7 Travis Gordon, 8 Callum Bustin (Maguire 38).

Replacements: 29 Loma Kivalu 17 Zach Toerien, 19 Joji Logavatu, 27 Curran Maguire, 20 Tomasi Tanumi.

Rams: 15 Zach Clow, 14 Jack Rampton, 13 Solodrau Radianirova, 12 Joe Pannese, 11 Axel Kalling-Smith, 10 Fraser Honey, 9 Ollie Hodgson (Boxhall 41), 1 Scott Kirk (Harris 48), 2 Max Hayman ©, 3 James Baker (Barry 74), 4 Nile Dacres, 5 Robbie Stapley (Duda 59), 6 Harry Stone, 7 Ben Atkins, 8 James McRae.

Replacements: 16 Nick Barry, 17 Patrick Harris, 18 Mikey Duda, 19 Andrew Lamb, 20 Sam Boxhall.

Titans 38 Sedgley Park 29

Rotherham Titans kept the pressure on at the top of the league with a well-deserved 38-29 win in a high-scoring thriller on a bright afternoon at Clifton Lane.

Titans outscored Park by six tries to four with dot downs coming from Luckas Sableman-Blue, Harry Gilson-Fox, Callum Bustin, Morgan Veness, Zach Toerien and Lloyd Hayes, with the latter also adding 8 points from the tee.

Titans had the better of the first half and secured the bonus point inside the opening 35 minutes, with Park’s only score coming from a try for winger Rhys Henderson midway through the half.

Titans stormed into the lead as early as the third minute when winger Luckas Sableman-Blue finished off after receiving a sharp pass from fly half Rob Povey.

Despite Park narrowing the gap Rotherham soon restored their advantage with two quick tries inside three minutes.

Firstly, Lloyd Hayes was on hand to intercept and charge home from 40 metres and then some slack work from Sedgley in clearing their lines saw second rower Harry Gilson-Fox exploit the opportunity to crash over under the sticks.

Callum Bustin showed good awareness to power over with a quick tap close to the line which extended the lead further before the break.

If anyone thought Sedgley Park might roll over in the second half they would have been badly mistaken.

Inside the opening 10 minutes centre Nathan Pope popped up to narrow the gap with an arching run, with full back Oliver Glasse converting. Glasse reduced his sides arrears further shortly afterwards with a smart 3-pointer.

The game was developing into a more open affair with each side prepared to take a few more risks.

The next score came after a lovely break from Lloyd Hayes, with Jamie Cooke in support which took play up to the Sedgley line. The ball was recycled out for hooker Morgan Veness to crash over.

However, moments after the restart Sedgley bounced straight back with a sharp try from scrum half Matt Sturgess which kept Rotherham on edge as they knew their opponents were not about to go away.

Inside the final 10 minutes Titans nerves were calmed somewhat when replacement prop forward Zach Toerien bulldozed his way over after James Naylor slip him in close to the line.

But those stubborn Sedgley boys just refused to go away and 3 minutes from time replacement forward Adam Mallinson was driven over to secure a deserved bonus point for his side.

Deep into injury time Park had two long range penalty efforts slide wide of the mark which would have given them a second bonus point, but unfortunately for them it wasn’t to be.

Rotherham will enjoy their hard-earned victory, but the focus will quickly switch to their next task when they travel to Rams next Saturday.

Commenting after the game Titans Harvey Biljon said:

“I don’t think we could have asked for anymore, we got the five points and at times we really looked like we were in our rhythm, and we scored some really good tries.

“Then there was a couple of moments where our defensive sets were exceptional.

“We came up against a team that is known for their attacking intent and it really stood out that we could weather the storm at times, that helped us just to interrupt any momentum they could get.

“Sedgley Park did score some good tries, and we’ll give them credit for those, but I think if you look at the steps through the middle of the park, that was something I was pretty impressed with from our players.”

Titans: Sableman-Blue (T), Gilson-Fox (T), Bustin (T), Veness (T), Toerien (T), Hayes (T, 4C)

Sedgley Park: Henderson, (T), Pope (T), Sturgess (T), Mallinson (T), Glasse (3C, 1P)

Yellow Card: None

Attendance: 250

Referee: Henry Pearson

Assistant Referees: Peter Connor & Brendan Fitzmaurice

Titans: 15 Ronnie Du Randt, 14 Luckas Sableman-Blue (Barrett 70), 13 Lloyd Hayes, 12 Jamie Cooke, 11 Calum Barrett (Townend 58), 10 Rob Povey, 9 JB Bruzulier (Naylor 58), 1 Charlie Capps © (Toerien 58), 2 Morgan Veness, 3 Andrew Foster (Harrison 59), 4 John Okafor, 5 Harry Gilson-Fox, 6 Travis Gordon ©, 7 Harry Newborn (Maguire 65), 8 Callum Bustin.

Replacements: 16 Curran Maguire 17 Zach Toerien, 18 Eoin Harrison, 19 Jack Townend, 20 James Naylor.

Sedgley Park: 15 Oliver Glasse, 14 Rhys Henderson, 13 Nathan Pope, 12 Cameron Scanlon, 11 Albert Bradshaw, 10 Warren Seals (Riley 30), 9 Matt Sturgess, 1 John Blanchard (Downham 58), 2 Ben Gregory (Mallinson 68), 3 Danny Rylance (Blanchard 73), 4 Bob Birtwell ©, 5 Will Connor (Cox 58), 6 Connor James (Deans 68), 7 Lewis Bradley, 8 Tom Ailes.

Replacements: 16 Austin Downham, 17 Adam Mallinson, 18 Isaac Deans, 19 Luke Cox, 20 Matt Riley.

Photo: Gareth Siddons

Plymouth Albion 23 Titans 20

Rotherham Titans put in a huge physical effort before ultimately falling short as they went down 23-20 to Plymouth Albion on a grey afternoon at Brickfields

The sides shared 6 tries in this attritional encounter with Titans dot downs coming from Morgan Veness, Callum Bustin and Ronnie Du Randt, with Lloyd Hayes adding 5 points from the tee.

Titans were under the pump from the off with Albion starting the game much the brighter.

Indeed, Rotherham seldom got out of their own half inside the opening 20 minutes, and it was testament to their defensive resilience that the home side led by just 3 points at this stage: a Tom Putt penalty being the only reward for their dominance.

When Rotherham finally got inside the Albion half they wasted little time in prospering from their visits, as they scored two tries inside five minutes.

Firstly, hooker Morgan Veness finished off from the tail of a powerful maul and then Callum Bustin collected and showed good pace and power as he charged in from distance to score. Hayes converted the latter to give Rotherham a 12-3 lead.

A visit to Brickfields is notoriously a difficult place to go and get a result and there are various reasons for that.

However, the fact they have a very good team is the main reason and Albion quickly bounced back with a converted try from centre Archie Hill.

Just before half time the home side retook the lead when Tom Putt knocked over a 3-pointer.

With the wind now in Titans favour they wasted little time in retaking the lead when Lloyd Hayes slotted a nice 3-pointer from distance.

The lead was short lived however as Albion stormed back and following a period of forward pressure inside the Titans 22, hooker Harry Wilkinson barged his way over for a try to nudge his side 18-15 ahead.

Before the hour mark however, disaster struck for Rotherham as captain Zak Poole received a second yellow card for a high tackle and was red carded, leaving Titans with 14 men for the remainder of the game.

Encouraged, Albion stepped up their intensity as they looked to make their numerical advantage count.

As the game went into the final 10 minutes the pressure finally told on Rotherham’s defence as Albion’s loose head prop Ethan Burger went over for his side’s third try, to stretch the lead to 23-15.

To their credit Rotherham never gave up and late on in the game their endeavours were rewarded when Ronnie Du Randt dotted down in the corner.

Trailing now by just 3 points but with time quickly running out, Rotherham went in search of a fourth try that would have given them the bonus point win.

Unfortunately for them however, Albion’s defence stood firm as they held on for the win which keeps them in contention at the business end of the table.

Rotherham will now rest a few bumps and bruises before switching their focus to the visit of Sedgley Park to Clifton Lane on Saturday, as they continue their pursuit of Richmond at the top.

Reflecting afterwards Titans Harvey Biljon said:

“What a helluva game to be part of; to come all the way down to Plymouth and come away with a point is a great result for Rotherham Titans.

“We need to put this into context; Rotherham absorbed a huge amount of pressure through the beginning of that game. I think we did get a score against the run of play, but that kept us in it.

“But you have to understand you can’t play the game away from home with 14 players for over 45 minutes, but I don’t want to focus on that.

“The key thing we should be focused on is the resilience we showed with 14 men to stay in the game and then to still be playing at the death trying to win the match.

“That for me shows great character and how great is it going to be, to be part of this run-in through the back end of the season.”

Titans: Veness (T), Bustin (T), Du Randt (T), (Hayes (1C, 1P)

Plymouth Albion: Hill (T), Wilkinson (T), Burger (T), (Putt 1C, 2P)

Yellow Card: Newborn (Titans)

Red Card: Poole (Titans)

Attendance: 1542

Referee: Matt Sharpe

Assistant Referees: Peter Dixon & Dave Philpot

Titans: 15 Jack Townend, 14 Tomasi Tanumi (Okafor 59), 13 Lloyd Hayes, 12 Jamie Cooke, 11 Ronnie Du Randt, 10 Rob Povey, 9 JB Bruzulier, 1 Zach Toerien (Capps 30), 2 Morgan Veness (Maguire 69), 3 Eoin Harrison (Foster 30), 4 Zak Poole ©, 5 Harry Gilson-Fox, 6 Travis Gordon, 7 Harry Newborn, 8 Callum Bustin.

Replacements: 16 John Okafor, 17 Charlie Capps ©, 18 Andrew Foster, 27 Curran Maguire, 21 James Naylor.

Plymouth Albion: 15 Tom Putt (Dart 59), 14 Shae Cornish, 13 Israel Akinrowo, 12 Archie Hill, 11 Bobby Wigginton, 10 Harry Legg, 9 Jack Oulton ©, 1 Ethan Burger (Boughton 71), 2 Harry Wilkinson (Williams 62), 3 Jenson Boughton (Dan Pullinger 48), 4 Joel Broadhurst (Burger 75), 5 Jake Clemson, 6 Jago Sheppard, 7 Jake Bond (Mead 65), 8 Ben Moa (Clarke 62).

Replacements: 16 Rhys Williams, 17 Torin Clarke, 18 Dan Pullinger, 22 Gabe Mead, 20 Frankie Dart.

Titans 28 Birmingham Moseley 27

Rotherham Titans had to work their socks off to beat a physical Birmingham Mosely outfit 28-27 on a bright, sunny afternoon at Clifton Lane.

Titans had to overcome a big, powerful Moseley side head-on to earn the right to win this attritional clash, as each side crossed the whitewash three times.

Rotherham’s dot downs came via a brace from number 8 Callum Bustin and one for winger Calum Barrett, with Lloyd Hayes adding 13 points from the tee.

This hard-fought but well-deserved win helps keep the South Yorkshire side hot on the heels of leaders Richmond and despite the bonus point not being collected, Titans are only 3 points behind in second spot.

Nonetheless, inside the opening half hour it looked as though the home side would secure the extra point as they raced into a 19-3 lead following 3 quick tries.

Callum Bustin got the scoreboard moving early when he crashed over following a catch and drive close to the line.

Soon after Titans had their second score when following a good break by prop forward Charlie Capps, the ball was flung out wide by JB Bruzulier to Jamie Cooke, who in turn found Travis Gordon and he drew the last man before sending in winger Calum Barrett for a nice try in the corner.

Scrum half Jack Jolly got the visitors on the board with a penalty before Callum Bustin popped up again, this time in ‘Plants Corner’, to finish off from a catch and drive.

If the Clifton Lane faithful thought this was going to be a walk in the park from here on in, then they would’ve been badly mistaken.

In the final ten minutes of the first half Moseley demonstrated once again they are a side that just never gives up or goes away, and to prove it they ran in two converted tries through Aquile Smith and Will Safe.

The tries sandwiched a Lloyd Hayes penalty and Rotherham went in at the break holding a narrow 22-17 lead.

Ten minutes after the interval Moseley took the lead for the first time when a kick from inside their own half bounced kindly for centre Ollie Allsopp, who juggled to gain control, before racing through to score in the corner under pressure.

The conversion from near the touch line was impressively nailed by Jack Jolly to give his side a slender 24-22 lead.

The game became tense and edgy as both sides looked to gain the advantage.

The lead switched repeatedly as first Hayes bagged a penalty, then Jolly and then Hayes again.

With 20 minutes to go Rotherham enjoyed the lion’s share of territory and possession and went in search of securing the win and bonus point.

Indeed, inside the final five minutes they had good opportunities to do so as they camped on the line, but credit to Moseley, their determined defensive efforts managed to keep the Titans out.

Nevertheless, the win was an important one and now Rotherham will look to rest a few bumps and bruises before embarking on the longest trip of the year to Plymouth Albion.

Reflecting after the game Titans Harvey Biljon said:

“That was a heck of a squad performance; don’t underestimate the adversity that we are going through with injuries and people having to play out of position.

“However, for about 25 minutes of the game we looked on fire, but what was unusual for us is we went off task; and when we did Moseley got into the game and that’s what happens when you come up against good teams.

“Give Moseley credit, they stayed in the battle and that’s what it’s going to be like for us, there’s not going to be any easy games, and we’ll have to continue to push in terms of our performance.

“I said to the players before the game we would need to stay in every moment, and you could see today that we probably missed a couple of those moments.

“But it’s a win and we are delighted with that and we’ll try to keep it going.”

Titans: Bustin (2T), Barrett (T), Hayes (2C, 3P)

Birmingham Moseley: Aquile Smith (T), Safe (T), Allsopp (T), Jolly (3C, 2P)

Yellow Card: None

Attendance: 250

Referee: Ben Rayner

Assistant Referees: Matt Daubney & Jason Garrick

Titans: 15 Ronnie Du Randt, 14 Tomasi Tanumi, 13 Lloyd Hayes, 12 Jamie Cooke, 11 Calum Barrett, 10 Rob Povey, 9 JB Bruzulier, 1 Charlie Capps ©, 2 Loma Kivalu (Logavatu 47), 3 Andrew Foster, 4 Zak Poole ©, 5 Harry Gilson-Fox, 6 Travis Gordon, 7 Harry Newborn, 8 Callum Bustin.

Replacements: 16 Oliver Fretwell, 17 Zach Toerien, 18 Eoin Harrison, 19 Joji Logavatu, 20 James Naylor.

Birmingham Moseley: 15 Freddie Painter, 14 Dan Brough, 13 Aquile Smith, 12 Ollie Allsopp, 11 Tuoyo Egodo, 10 Tighe Maxwell-Whiteley (Taylor 70), 9 Jack Jolly ©, 1 Ethan Priest (McNulty 16) (Priest 21), 2 Ryan Roach (Pogson 79), 3 David Langly (McNulty 53), 4 Harry Barnes, 5 Harry Butler (Smith 69), 6 Will Safe, 7 Morgan Dawes, 8 Adam Peters.

Replacements: 16 Ben Pogson, 17 Josh McNulty, 18 Fin Smith, 19 Santiago Edwards, 20 Tommy Taylor.

Photo: Gareth Siddons

Esher 34 Titans 68

Rotherham Titans stunned Esher to with a mighty second half display to run out 68-34 winners on a mild afternoon at Molesley Road.

Trailing 31-12 at the break Rotherham looked to be in a bit of trouble.

However, a powerful second forty from the South Yorkshire side saw them score 8 tries to win the half 56-3.

In total Rotherham scored 10 tries, one of which was a penalty try, with the other nine coming from Ellis Thomas, Callum Bustin, Ronnie Du Randt, Tomasi Tanumi, Charlie Capps, JB Bruzulier, Jamie Cooke, Zak Poole and Lloyd Hayes, with the latter adding 16 points from the tee.

Zak Poole’s try was his 51st for Rotherham, making him the clubs all-time leading try scorer, beating John Dudley’s record of 50, which included one in the cup.

Titans victory keeps them in second place in the table and narrows the gap to Richmond at the top to 2 points.

However, after 33 minutes of the game it looked unlikely that Rotherham would be returning home with any points after Esher made a blistering start by racing into a 31-7 lead, wrapping up the try bonus point along the way.

Esher scrum half Henry Mortimer helped himself to a fine hat trick, with flanker Olly Norris also crossing the whitewash.

Titans only response in that opening 30 minutes was an Ellis Thomas try under the sticks following a period of powerful ball retention by the forwards close to the line.

Crucially however just before the break Rotherham added a second try when number 8 Callum Bustin crashed his way over to send his side in at the break trailing 31-12.

With much to do in the second half it was important Rotherham made inroads early on.

This they did and incredibly inside the opening 10 minutes they ran in three converted tries to take the lead!

Ronnie Du Randt showed some clever footwork for the first try, Tomasi Tanumi finished off nicely in the far corner after a delightful cross-field kick from Rob Povey and Charlie Capps powered over from a 5-metre line out.

To Esher’s credit they retook the lead shortly after with a Tom Walker penalty, but that would be as good as it got for the hosts.

In a frenetic final 20 minutes Rotherham scored five further tries, the first of which was a penalty try after Esher illegally stopped a Titans scrum from scoring on their line when full back Harry Faulkner decided to join the party.

Lloyd Hayes was the next to score after Zak Poole stripped Esher of the ball and sent the centre in at the corner.

JB Bruzulier was next to score when he dotted down after taking the ball out of the back of a maul to work his way over.

Jamie Cooke scored Titans ninth try which was probably the best of the match.

The move started inside the Titans 22 when Lloyd Hayes received the ball 10 metres from his line. The centre made a terrific break down into the Esher half before finding Zak Poole in support; he in turn found Ronnie Du Randt who fed the ball out to Jamie Cooke for a belter of a score!

The tenth and final try fittingly came for the skipper Zak Poole who showed great awareness to take a quick tap-and-go penalty to seal an outstanding second half display and stunning victory.

The Titans will now rest a few bruised bodies before quickly switching their focus to the visit of Birmingham Moseley to Clifton Lane this Saturday.

Reflecting post-match Titans Harvey Biljon said:

“I think it took us 30 minutes to get off the bus, but there was a key moment when we got the score just before half time.

“We had to be realistic; we only had the ball 3 times in the first half and scored twice and the rest is probably just a little bit of ill discipline and us not executing.

“However, in the same breath of air weren’t Esher good at what they did in the first half. To go against a defence that’s prides itself, I think they deserved their tries.

“I think what was crucial was half time and the clear messages in the way we needed to adapt in the second half.

“I was really impressed with the playing group, because sometimes those moments can get emotional, but what they did is they got some specific messages, they stuck to task and to and have such a dominant second half in the way they did, I was very proud of them today.”

Titans: Pen Try, Thomas (T), Bustin (T), Du Randt (T), Tanumi (T), Capps (T), Bruzulier (T), Cooke (T), Poole (T), Hayes (T, 8C)

Esher: Mortimer (3T), Norris (T), Walker (4C, 2P)

Yellow Card: None

Attendance: 485

Referee: Alan Chandrachud

Assistant Referees: Alex Powdrell & Andrew Green

Titans: 15 Ronnie Du Randt, 14 Tomasi Tanumi, 13 Lloyd Hayes, 12 Jamie Cooke, 11 Calum Barrett, 10 Rob Povey (Naylor 76), 9 James Naylor (Bruzulier 41), 1 Charlie Capps © (Toerien 65), 2 Morgan Veness, 3 Andrew Foster (Harrison 70), 4 Zak Poole ©, 5 Harry Gilson-Fox, 6 Ellis Thomas (Newborn 25), 7 Travis Gordon, 8 Callum Bustin (Logavatu 72).

Replacements: 16 Harry Newborn, 17 Zach Toerien, 18 Eoin Harrison, 27 Joji Logavatu, 20 JB Bruzulier.

Esher: 15 Harry Faulkner, 14 Fergus Donnelly, 13 Myles Rawstron-Rudd (Keh 62), 12 Owen Waters, 11 Stan Norman, 10 Tom Walker, 9 Henry Mortimer (Bullock 52), 1 Emmett Murphy, 2 Joe Vajner (Larson 28) (Vajner 31), 3 Henry Pearson (Ashworth 41), 4 Alex McLean, 5 Adam Bullett (Larson 48), 6 Olly Norris, 7 Gabriel Seriki, 23 Frankie Souto (Pearson 43) (Gayle 64).

Replacements: 16 Reece Larson, 17 Caleb Ashworth, 18 Taylor Gayle, 19 Johnny Keh, 20 Sam Bullock.

Bishop’s Stortford 11 Titans 17

Rotherham Titans endured a blood and thunder battle before eventually outmuscling a physical Bishop’s Stortford side 17-11 on a wet and grey afternoon at Silver Leys.

Titans outscored the hosts by two tries to one with a penalty try and a Lloyd Hayes dot down, with the latter also adding 5 points from the tee.

The hard-fought win sees Rotherham go into second spot in the table, 2 points behind Richmond, following Rams defeat to Birmingham Moseley.

This brutal clash took its toll in terms of injuries for Rotherham, as both hookers, Jack Bergmanas and Luke Cole and back rower John Okafor all left the field with worrying hand injuries.

The game itself was expected to be a challenging one, with Bishop’s having already beaten Titans earlier in the season at Clifton Lane and that’s exactly how it turned out.

The home side enjoyed the better moments of the first half, although it must be said with a little help from the visitors.

However, Stortford took the lead inside the opening 10 minutes when fly half Mike Cooke successfully nailed a penalty from distance and indeed, he could have doubled his sides advantage 15 minutes later, but surprisingly this time failed with his effort.

Nevertheless, the home side did extend their lead a minute later when centre Austin Pope wriggled over for an unconverted try, following a brief period of pressure inside the Titans 22.

Trailing 8-0 Rotherham remained calm and didn’t press the panic button.

Six minutes before the break they manoeuvred play downfield before eventually crashing over to score from a driving maul through Callum Bustin. However, before the number 8 could celebrate, referee Matt Sharpe upgraded the score to a penalty try.

Only desperate defending from Rotherham on their own line ensured they would go in at half time trailing by a solitary point at 8-7.

The second half saw the South Yorkshire side pick up the intensity and their pack started to gain the upper hand, particularly at scrum time.

However, the next score for Rotherham came from their backs, when a neat chip over the top from JB Bruzulier was chased and finished off by Lloyd Hayes, who then dried himself off before knocking over the conversion.

Before the hour mark Hayes nailed a long-range penalty to crucially extend Titans lead beyond a score.

Both sides from here on in continued to batter the other, as each looked to get the edge, but the only points scored came for the hosts in the final play when Cooke knocked over a 3-pointer to deservedly secure a losing bonus point.

The win was a huge one for Rotherham they’ll now try and rest some bruised bodies before going again next week when they travel to Esher for a rearranged fixture.

Commenting afterwards Harvey Biljon said:

“I think we set the tone back at training on Tuesday and Thursday around what was going to happen when we came to Bishop’s Stortford.

“Bishop’s are a team if we’re honest that are running high with confidence after just beating Rams and today with the conditions as they were, it was always going to come down to a bit of character and one or two moments in the game.

“But, for us to come through with a win away from home, with the amount of adversity we faced today is exceptional.

“We lost both our hookers, we lost line-out personnel, we lost key decision makers during the game, and I think 4 players were playing out of position at the end and we were down to 14.

“The players just stuck in with heart; sometimes you’ve got a plan in place and all those kinds of things, but I think the plan went out of the window and Rotherham Titans just showed absolute character!”

Titans: Penalty try, Hayes (T, C, P)

Bishop’s Stortford: Pope (T), Cooke 2P)

Yellow Card: Poole (Titans), Hill & Brownhill (Bishop’s)

Attendance: 535

Referee: Matt Sharpe

Assistant Referees: Steven Randall & Ben McNamara

Titans: 15 Jack Townend, 14 Calum Barrett, 13 Tomasi Tanumi, 12 Travis Gordon, 11 Ronnie Du Randt, 10 Lloyd Hayes, 9 JB Bruzulier (Naylor 61), 1 Charlie Capps ©, 2 Jack Bergmanas (Cole 17) (Newborn 57), 3 Andrew Foster, 4 Zak Poole ©, 5 Harry Maguire, 6 John Okafor (Toerien 74), 7 Ellis Thomas, 8 Callum Bustin.

Replacements: 16 Luke Cole, 17 Zach Toerien, 18 Rikki Stout, 25 Harry Newborn, 21 James Naylor.

Bishop’s Stortford: 15 David Hayes, 14 Josh Stannard (Biard 54), 13 Tom Mills, 12 Austin Pope, 11 Alex Gilham (Hill 78), 10 Mike Cooke, 9 Chris Bolton (Briers 58), 1 Tristan Smith (Brownhill 57), 2 Isaac Bell (Rayment 49), 3 Toby Hill (Smith 75), 4 Hamish Ferguson, 5 Fraizer Kiff, 6 Harrison Langworthy, 7 Ollie Jones (Johnson 57), 8 Will Rogers (Capt.).

Replacements: 16 Alex Rayment, 17 Seb Brownhill, 18 Sam Johnson, 19 Charlie Briers, 20 Jack Biard.  

Titans 24 Leicester Lions 7

Rotherham Titans were made to work hard for their 24-7 victory over a tenacious Leicester Lions side on a cool afternoon at Clifton Lane.

Titans outscored Leicester by three tries to one with dot downs coming from Travis Gordon, Jack Bergmanas and Lloyd Hayes, with the latter also adding 9 points from the tee.

Leicester Lions didn’t stop battling from the moment the game started until it finished in the 11th minute of injury time and they deserve massive plaudits for their efforts.

However, the home side never looked like losing and because of the increased expectations as the season has progressed, a lot of people around the ground, including the players, were disappointed at not collecting the bonus point.

That’s testament to Titans rapid progress this term as a newly promoted side from National 2 North, but whatever happens from hereon in, the season must surely be regarded as a success.

Titans nosed ahead early in this one, when Lloyd Hayes added a 3-pointer from the tee to keep his personal tally for the season ticking over nicely, as he leads the scoring charts in National 1.

Lions responded when a bouncing ball was collected by hooker Oliver Taylor who broke through a gap before finding Harry Palmer in support with what looked like a forward pass, but the officials didn’t have a great view and Palmer raced in from 15 meters to score a converted try.

Ironically for all their efforts these points would be the only ones scored by Lions.

By the half hour mark Rotherham grabbed the lead when Lloyd Hayes intercepted a pass around halfway and raced in unopposed to score next to the posts.

Crucially in the final play of the first half Titans extended their advantage when back rower Travis Gordon showed good strength and desire to crash over for another converted try, to send his side in at the break with a 17-7 lead.

When Jack Bergmanas dotted down from a catch and drive shortly after the restart to extend the lead to 24-7, it seemed inevitable the home side would go on to grab a bonus point.

However, in no small part, the tenacious Lions defence ensured this wasn’t to be; although Rotherham thought they had grabbed their fourth try in the final play, but prop Andrew Foster was held up over the line.

Still, any win in National 1 is a big win and now Rotherham will prepare for what looks like a very difficult task next time when they travel south to take on Bishop’s Stortford.

Commenting after the match Harvey Biljon said:

“I’ve just been in the huddle with the players, and they’re frustrated that we didn’t get the bonus point, but I see it a whole different way. You’ve got a team in Leicester Lions that’s desperate, that fought for everything today and we were in a tough game in difficult conditions.

“Can we be better, of course we can, but we’ve gone and won 24-7 and we’d take that every week; some people are getting carried away with what the expectation is. We’ve taken a great result today to get the win and more importantly as we’ve said before, we will find moments in games where we have to go away and coach that in training so we will be better in the future.

“In the last 15 minutes we probably could have controlled it a bit better when we had the ball; however, in saying that in the final five minutes we managed to work the ball all the way up the pitch and how agonising is it when you are held up in the last play of the game; that’s pretty frustrating.”

Titans: Gordon (T), Bergmanas (T), Hayes, (T, P, 3C)

Leicester Lions: Palmer (T), Bouchier (1C)

Yellow Card: Ronnie Du Randt (Titans)

Attendance: 250

Referee: Tim Allatt

Assistant Referees: Matt Daubney & Tudor Griffiths

Titans: 15 Ronnie Du Randt, 14 Tomasi Tanumi, 13 Lloyd Hayes, 12 Jamie Cooke, 11 Calum Barrett, 10 Jack Townend (Poole 69), 9 James Naylor (JB Bruzulier 55), 1 Zach Toerien (Donkor 57), 2 Luke Cole (Bergmanas 40) (Cole 80), 3 Eoin Harrison (Foster 40), 4 Zak Poole © (Newborn 49), 5 Harry Gilson-Fox, 6 John Okafor, 7 Travis Gordon, 8 Callum Bustin.

Replacements: 16 Jack Bergmanas, 17 Alastair Donkor, 18 Andrew Foster, 25 Harry Newborn, 19 JB Bruzulier.

Leicester Lions: 15 Joe Brock, 14 James Stubbs (Edwards 64), 13 Jamel Hamilton, 12 Charlie Davies, 11 Jake Sterland, 10 Luke Bouchier, 9 Charlie Bemand (Stubbs 71), 1 Liam Burrows (Thompson 53), 2 Oliver Taylor © (Allen 55), 3 Aaron Dawson (Carr 53), 4 Harry Palmer, 5 Ben Almond (Murdoch 46), 6 Jordan Tebbatt (Burrows 74), 7 Cam De Beer (Almond 52), 8 Joey Britton.

Replacements: 16 Arthur Allen, 17 Isaac Thompson, 18 Max Carr, 19 Johnny Murdoch, 20 Jack Edwards.

Photo: Gareth Siddons

Dings Crusaders 26 Titans 45

Rotherham Titans put in an outstanding display to run out 45-26 winners over an enterprising Dings side on a cool afternoon at Shaftesbury Park.

Titans outscored the hosts by 7 tries to 4 with dot downs coming via a brace from Callum Bustin and one each for Charlie Capps, Tomasi Tanumi, Luke Cole, Zak Poole and Lloyd Hayes, the latter also added 10 points from the tee.

Match report to follow.

Titans 23 Sale FC 17

Rotherham Titans were made to work for the full 80 minutes to carve out a narrow but deserved 23-17 win over a good Sale FC side on a bright, but cool afternoon at Clifton Lane.

Titans outscored their opponents by three tries to two with dot downs coming from JB Bruzulier, Charlie Capps and Jamie Cooke, with Lloyd Hayes adding 8 points from the tee.

In a competitive first forty it was Sale who got the scoreboard moving midway through the half when James Robins knocked over a penalty.

Titans would have been disappointed to fall behind having had multiple opportunities to score themselves and had spent long periods inside the Sale 22.

Nevertheless, Rotherham were on the board shortly after and took the lead when scrum half JB Bruzulier picked up from the base of a ruck to dive over for a converted try.

The final 10 minutes of the half saw Sale enjoy their best period of the match with winger Mark Dixon helping himself to a brace of tries.

The first saw him employ some neat footwork to step back inside following some strong forward pressure inside the Titans 22, whilst his second came after James Robins intercepted and went 60 metres before being brought down close to the line, but Dixon was on hand to grab the ball and go over.

A Lloyd Hayes penalty was sandwiched in-between Dixon’s tries, but Rotherham went in at the break trailing 17-10 and with a bit of work to do.

Titans came out for the second half with a renewed intensity which led to a Charlie Capps catch-and-drive try inside the opening 10 minutes.

Shortly after Rotherham regained the lead when Jamie Cooke showed great composure to glide through and keep his nerve before crashing over for a lovely try.

The lead was extended just after the hour mark when Lloyd Hayes added his second penalty and then the assignment for Rotherham was to try and secure a bonus-point try.

This they thought they had done in the final play of the match when Jack Townend made a nice break before finding John Okafor in support. The powerful back rower was tackled just short of the line, but he quickly released the ball before regathering to dive over.

Unfortunately for him and Rotherham the referee had seen an infringement and he disallowed the try, before blowing his whistle for full time.

Despite that disappointment Rotherham would have been delighted to have secured an impressive win over a very good Sale outfit.

Titans will now reset and focus on their next game away at Dings Crusaders on Saturday.

Commenting after the match Titans Harvey Biljon said:

“I was really impressed the way the team went about getting that victory, you can’t underestimate how tough that game was. I think Sale came here really motivated and you have to give them credit.

“I think there was a fair bit that didn’t go our way today and I don’t think that’s the fault of the referee or the opposition or us; you sometimes get those days where the ball just doesn’t bounce your way.

“The fact that we could stick to task and come from behind to nil the opposition in the second half and go and get a result is huge, especially when you consider we’ve been out of rugby for 4 weeks.”

Titans: Bruzulier (T), Capps (T), Cooke (T), Hayes (1C, 2P)

Sale FC: Dixon (2T), Robbins (2C, 1P)

Yellow Card: Townend (Titans), Mintern (Sale FC)

Attendance: 250

Referee: Matt Sharpe

Assistant Referees: Simon Williams & Kieron Henry

Titans: 15 Jack Townend, 14 Ronnie Du Randt, 13 Lloyd Hayes, 12 Jamie Cooke, 11 Cuchulain Livingstone, 10 Rob Povey, 9 JB Bruzulier, 1 Charlie Capps © (Kivalu 65), 2 Jack Bergmanas (Cole 50), 3 Andrew Foster (Donkor 65) (Foster 71), 4 Zak Poole ©, 5 Curran Maguire (Newborn 57), 6 John Okafor, 7 Travis Gordon, 8 Callum Bustin.

Replacements: 16 Luke Cole, 17 Loma Kivalu, 18 Alastair Donkor, 25 Harry Newborn, 21 James Naylor.

Sale FC: 15 Tom Brady, 14 Obi Ene, 24 Fergus Mulchrone, 12 Sam Clarke, 11 Mark Dixon, 10 James Robins, 9 Joe Green (Street 76), 1 Ben Carlisle (Birchall 69), 2 Josh Brown, 3 Ciaran Parker (Ford 63), 4 Nick Gray (Davies 55), 5 Evan Mintern, 6 Pete Vickers (Pope 63), 7 Andrew Hughes (Capt.), 8 Stone Priestley-Nangle.

Replacements: 25 Jake Pope, 16 Dan Birchall, 18 Callum Ford, 22 Huw Davies, 20 Sean Street.

Titans 29 Darlington Mowden Park 14

Rotherham Titans were made to work hard for their bonus-point 29-14 win over a tenacious Darlington side on a gloomy afternoon at Clifton Lane.

Titans outscored Park by 4 tries to 2 with JB Bruzulier grabbing a brace and Tomasi Tanumi and Lloyd Hayes both dotting down, the latter also added 9 points from the tee.

The victory keeps Titans third in the league, just four points behind leaders Richmond and three behind second placed side Rams.

In this highly competitive and keenly-fount affair it was Rotherham that got the scoreboard moving when after 10 minutes JB Bruzulier found the onrushing Lloyd Hayes who collected nicely before crashing though to score next to the posts. Once he’d dusted himself down he knocked over the extras.

Although Rotherham continued to have good moments it was Mowden Park that scored next when following a period of forward dominance inside the home 22, second rower Oscar Usher collected a metre out to barge over for a converted try.

Rotherham for some reason lacked their usual spark and despite good periods of possession and territory close to the line, Mowden Park were able to keep them out.

Indeed, as the half drew to a close it was Park that looked more likely to take a lead going into the break. However, it was now Rotherham that displayed a stubborn resistance to keep their defence intact to end the half level at 7 apiece.

Titans came out for the second forty looking sharper and with more energy than before, but it wasn’t until the hour mark that they managed to add to their tally.

Following some good forward pressure Rotherham took play up to the Darlington line, before scrum half JB Bruzulier collected and threw a lovely miss-pass out to winger Tomasi Tanumi for the easiest of dot downs. Hayes made the conversion.

With just over 10 minutes remaining Park stunned the home side when from a catch and drive hooker Max Fraine dotted down from the tail and Harry Read’s superb conversion from the touchline levelled the match.

Lloyd Hayes calmed the Titans nerves somewhat when his penalty kick a few minutes later restored his sides lead.

Then in the final minutes of the game Rotherham broke the visitor’s resistance when man-of-the-match JB Bruzulier scored two tries through his awareness close to the line to sneak over for both.

Whilst Rotherham fully deserved their win, it was tough on a Darlington side to go away empty handed having put so much into the game.

The Titans will now enjoy a few days off over Christmas before pressing the reset button in the New Year.

Speaking afterwards Titans Harvey Biljon reflected:

“We knew this was going to be a tricky fixture; in our preview we showed the table and where we were and where they were and everyone always looks at the table and just assumes and we didn’t want to do that.

“DMP came here and gave us everything they could, they gave us a battle, they scrapped for absolutely everything and we had to work hard for it.

“We are a team that is growing, a team that’s got confidence and a team that finds a way to get that bonus-point win and right now at the end of a long year that five points is a big one for us.”

Titans: JB Bruzulier (2T), Tanumi (T), Hayes (T, 3C, P)

Darlington Mowden Park: Usher (T), Fraine (T), Read (2C)

Yellow Card: None

Attendance: 250

Referee: Tim Allatt

Assistant Referees: Dave Charlton & Matt Daubney

Titans: 15 Jack Townend, 14 Tomasi Tanumi, 13 Lloyd Hayes, 12 Jamie Cooke, 11 Ronnie Du Randt, 10 Rob Povey, 9 JB Bruzulier, 1 Charlie Capps © (Toerien 57), 2 Luke Cole (Bergmanas 52), 3 Andrew Foster (Stout 76), 4 Harry Gilson-Fox, 5 Curran Maguire, 6 John Okafor, 7 Travis Gordon, 8 Zak Poole ©.

Replacements: 16 Jack Bergmanas, 17 Zach Toerien, 18 Rikki Stout, 19 Callum Russell, 20 James Naylor.

Darlington Mowden Park: 15 Harry Read, 14 Ratu Katalau, 13 Callum Mackenzie, 12 Ewan Greenlaw, 11 Callum Trees, 10 Garry Law (Newton 66), 9 Ben Douglas, 1 Sam Kyle-Clay (Murphy 43), 2 Max Fraine, 3 Eoin Harrison (Turnill 60), 4 Oscar Usher (Vaioleti 76), 5 Talite Vaioleti (Parsons 35), 6 Joe Craggs, 7 Will Jones (Capt.), 8 Yaree Fantini (Heathman 60).

Replacements: 16 Cam Murphy, 17 Sam Turnill, 18 Max Heathman, 19 Reuben Parsons, 20 Junior Newton.

Richmond 31 Titans 29

Rotherham Titans went toe to toe with leaders Richmond in a pulsating battle, before a last gasp try from winger Chidera Obonna saw them go down 31-29 on a cool afternoon at The Athletic Ground.

In this nine try thriller Rotherham crossed the whitewash 4 times with Jamie Cooke grabbing a brace and Aidan Shortall and Charlie Capps grabbing one each: Lloyd Hayes added 9 points from the tee.

The game was a physical battle between two of the best sides in the division and at the end there was nothing to choose between them, although Richmond must now have positioned themselves as title favourites having also beaten Rams the week before.

Indeed, it was Richmond who started much the brighter racing into a 14-0 lead inside the opening 13 minutes, after converted scores from winger Chidera Obonna and number 8 Sam Pim.

However, Titans didn’t panic and soon reduced the arrears when winger Aidan Shortall received a pass from Rob Povey to score.

Rotherham signalled their intent shortly after when John Okafor made a nice break before finding Jamie Cooke who went in at the corner for an unconverted try.

In this humdinger of a match back came Richmond before the half hour to extend their lead through centre Sam Dardis who received an overhead miss-pass to score near the corner. The missed conversion from Callum Grieve made it a 7-point game.

It was now Rotherham who enjoyed some possession, and they made the most of it when a lovely chip over the top was collected by Charlie Capps who put Jamie Cooke in for his second try. Lloyd Hayes added the extras to level the score at 19 each.

In the final play of the half however Rotherham were stunned by scrum half Luc Jones who through a cheeky dummy before sneaking in to score a converted try to make it 26-19.

Rotherham regrouped at the break and came out for the second half composed as they went about their business.

Lloyd Hayes reduced Titans deficit with an early penalty before just after the hour mark loosehead prop Charlie Capps crashed over for a converted try to give Rotherham the lead for the first time.

Both sides continued to batter each other in this brutal National 1 encounter and as the game went deep into injury time it looked as if the South Yorkshire side would claim a famous win.

However, credit to Richmond, as in the final play they managed to work the ball wide to winger Chidera Obonna who raced in at the corner to seal the game and send the home side into raptures.

Although the result will disappoint Rotherham, they can be proud of the shift they put in and confident in the knowledge they can more than compete with the best sides in the division.

Speaking after the match Harvey Biljon reflected:

“What a game to be part of and what an opportunity to for us to learn. The players showed lots of character, we were 14-0 down and up until the final play we were leading by 3 points and it just showed how we stayed in it.

“I think through the adversity of losing players, losing our nine and losing a winger and having to adapt and problem solve out there; I think that is great for our players to go through and we will learn from that.”

Titans: Cooke (2T), Shortall (T), Capps (T), Hayes (3C, 1P)

Richmond: Obonna (2T), Pim (T), Dardis (T), Jones (T), Grieve (3C)

Yellow Card: Shortall & Bruzulier (Titans), McMillan (Richmond)

Attendance: 455

Referee: Alan Chandrachud

Assistant Referees: Jeff Highcock & Matthew Shepherd

Titans: 15 Rob Povey, 14 Aidan Shortall (Naylor 44), 13 Lloyd Hayes, 12 Jamie Cooke, 11 Ronnie Du Randt, 10 Corben Ollivent (Maguire 61), 9 JB Bruzulier, 1 Charlie Capps © (Kivalu 68), 2 Jack Bergmanas (Cole 53), 3 Alastair Donkor (Foster 40), 4 Zak Poole ©, 5 Curran Maguire (Gordon 44), 6 John Okafor, 7 Ellis Thomas, 8 Callum Bustin (Bergmanas 70).

Replacements: 16 Luke Cole, 17 Loma Kivalu, 18 Andrew Foster, 19 Travis Gordon, 21 James Naylor.

Richmond: 15 Alex O’Meara, 14 Frank McMillan (Wills 65), 13 Sam Dardis, 12 Callum Grieve, 11 Chidera Obonna, 10 Lewis Dennett, 9 Luc Jones ©, 1 Theo Bevacqua, 2 Will Goffey (Torpey 59), 3 Jimmy Litchfield (Spring 59), 4 Jake Monson, 5 George Nugent (Wakeling 60), 6 Ethan Benson, 7 Lucas Schmid 8 Sam Pim.

Replacements: 16 Callum Torpey, 17 Luke Spring, 18 Henry Wills, 19 Miles Wakeling, 20 Rhett Butler.

Photo: Tim Anger

Titans 15 Blackheath 12

Rotherham Titans continued their fine run of form with a narrow but fully deserved 15-12 win over a resolute Blackheath side on a wet and windy afternoon at Clifton Lane.

With the game going into the final play Rotherham worked the ball infield, allowing fly half Corben Ollivent to seal the match in dramatic fashion with a drop goal.

The thrilling finale sent the faithful in the Shed into raptures because they knew a very good side had just been beaten.

The game was always going to be an attritional affair due to the weather, particularly with gusts of wind reaching 50 mph at times. Nevertheless, both sides gave their all right up to the end in a brutally physical battle.

It was the visitors who took the lead inside the opening 15 minutes when a high clearance kick from Blackheath was gathered and quickly recycled along the backline for Jake Lloyd to finish off in the corner for an unconverted try.

Despite this setback Rotherham remained calm and started to build some pressure as they enjoyed the lion’s share of territory and possession.

The pressure eventually told and lead to a fine try when following some heavy work from the pack the ball was flung out to the backs, with the final pass from Ronnie Du Randt finding winger Aidan Shortall who dived over in the corner to level the score.

The momentum Rotherham enjoyed towards the end of the first half carried into the second half and this resulted in another try when on 47 minutes JB Bruzulier showed great awareness to dive over from the base of a ruck. Lloyd Hayes converted from in front to make it 12-5.

Blackheath are a quality side and a response was inevitable. Twelve minutes from time following some good work by their pack, the ball was quickly spun out wide for Jake Lloyd to dot down for his second try. Incredibly Tom Ffitch nailed the conversion with an outstanding kick to level the game once again.

As the match went deep into injury time it looked as if the teams would share the spoils.

However, with one final huge effort Rotherham manoeuvred the ball downfield and ultimately into a position where Corben Ollivent was able to calmly slot over the dramatic drop goal winner.

The hard-earned victory keeps Rotherham in third spot, six-points behind league leaders and next opponents Richmond. So, the focus will immediately shift towards what will be Titans toughest test to date.

Commenting after the game Titans Harvey Biljon said:

“I think you had two very committed teams out there today, both teams will feel that and they’ll be some sore bodies tomorrow and on Monday, because it was pretty physical.

“I was pleased with the way we went about our business, although Blackheath deserved their first score, but the score we took in that top left-hand corner, to push the pass in these conditions was brave and we executed the skill, so I was really proud that we took that score.

“We knew it was going to be tough; we built into the game which was good and it was good to get ahead and we built some momentum. But we had one or two things just not go our way and I think the momentum swung back to Blackheath and they took a score and took a kick in crazy conditions and then it came down to those last few minutes.

“The territory told and we had two chances to win the game; we had a shot to take at goal from a previous penalty, but we took it with a drop goal.

“What pleased me was we found a way to go and get a result.”

Titans: Shortall (T), Bruzulier (T), Hayes (1C), Ollivent (1DG)

Blackheath: (Lloyd (2T), Ffitch (1C)

Yellow Card: None

Attendance: 250

Referee: Ben Wood

Assistant Referees: Llyr Apgeraint-Roberts & Matt Daubney

Titans: 15 Ronnie Du Randt, 14 Tomasi Tanumi (Naylor 37) (Tanumi 43), 13 Lloyd Hayes, 12 Jamie Cooke, 11 Aidan Shortall, 10 Corben Ollivent, 9 JB Bruzulier, 1 Charlie Capps © (Kivalu 70), 2 Luke Cole, 3 Andrew Foster, 4 Frankie Gascoigne (Bergmanas 70), 5 Curran Maguire, 6 John Okafor, 7 Zak Poole © (Thomas 40), 27 Callum Bustin.

Replacements: 16 Jack Bergmanas, 17 Loma Kivalu, 18 Alastair Donkor, 28 Ellis Thomas, 21 James Naylor.

Blackheath: 15 Jake Hennessey, 14 Jake Lloyd, 13 Leo Fielding, 12 Markus Burcham, 11 Matt Armstrong (Hirskyj-Douglas 56), 10 Oli Burgess (Ffitch 49), 9 Jordan Burns, 1 Archie Holland, 2 Billy Harding (Witchell 74), 3 Andrew Boye (Marsh 56), 4 Finlay O’Sullivan (Cavubati 53), 5 Mike Etete, 6 Josh Smart, 7 Noah Sloot 8 Tom Baldwin ©.

Replacements: 16 Alex Witchell, 17 Rory Marsh, 22 Tex Cavubati, 19 Tom Ffitch, 20 Oskar Hirskyj-Douglas.

Titans 21 Rams 14

Rotherham Titans put in a brilliant display to overcome a determined Rams outfit 21-14 on a sodden afternoon at Clifton Lane.

With running rugby almost impossible both teams defence came to the fore as the sides shared 4 tries with Titans dot downs coming from Rob Povey and Aidan Shortall whilst Lloyd Hayes added 11 points from the tee.

At times Rotherham’s defence was forced to graft hard to keep the league leaders out and it was a task they almost always succeeded in.

Rams had the better of the early exchanges, but the saturated conditions made handling difficult, and errors were almost inevitable from both sides.

In a fiercely competitive first half it wasn’t until the 21st minute that the deadlock was broken when following a period of forward pressure, Rams centre Solodrau Radianirova broke through to score under the posts for Fraser Honey to convert.

Titans Curran Maguire was sent to the bin for 10 minutes at this point for his sides repeat offending in trying to keep Rams out.

Credit to Rotherham though, whilst a man down they actually won the next 10 minutes with a Lloyd Hayes penalty!

Indeed, as the half wore on Rotherham became more threatening and began to impose themselves on the game.

Their endeavours were rewarded late in the half when Hayes knocked over another penalty to send his side in at the break trailing 7-6.

With the elements now in Titans favour they wasted little time in making them count as fly half Rob Povey skated through the Rams defence to dot down for a converted try.

Rotherham had the better of things for much of the second half, but Rams aren’t top of the league for no reason.

Just after the hour mark and following more pressure from the Rams pack, blindside flanker James McRae, with a little help from his friends, dotted down for a converted try to put his side back ahead at 14-13.

Undeterred, Titans work rate remained high as they kept Rams under pressure which in turn forced the visitors into errors.

Ten minutes from time one such error saw Lloyd Hayes knock over his third penalty to put Roth back ahead 16-14.

Just two minutes later Rotherham pushed further ahead when winger Aidan Shortall finished off in the corner after receiving a pass from Hayes; the latter narrowly missed the extras from the touchline.

Rams went in search of a score that would potentially give them a share of the spoils with a converted try.

However, the Titans defence was majestic as they repeatedly repelled the marauding Rams and when referee Owen Taylor blew for time, Rotherham rightly celebrated their deserved victory.

Commenting after the game Titans Harvey Biljon said:

“Firstly, I’d like to say a big thanks to the ground staff for getting the game on. In terms of the match you can see why Rams are the league leaders, they really took it to us, particularly in the first half, but actually throughout the entire game.

“The squad had quite a bit of adversity this week in terms of being able to train; we couldn’t train because of the snow and ice and we couldn’t do live mauls or any live scrummaging and we had very little opportunity to do much.

“So, we really do have to give credit to the boys for the character, the resilience and determination that they put in. They came together as a squad and they really did deserve their victory today.”

Titans: Povey (T), Shortall (T), Hayes (1C, 3P)

Rams: Radianirova (T), McRae (T), Honey (2C)

Yellow Card: Maguire (Titans)

Attendance: 250

Referee: Owen Taylor

Assistant Referees: Ben Rayner & Jason Garrick

Titans: 15 Ronnie Du Randt, 14 Tomasi Tanumi, 13 Lloyd Hayes, 12 Jamie Cooke, 11 Aidan Shortall, 10 Rob Povey (Ollivent 73), 9 JB Bruzulier, 1 Charlie Capps © (Kivalu 61), 2 Jack Bergmanas (Cole 63), 3 Andrew Foster (Donkor 61), 4 Harry Gilson-Fox, 5 Curran Maguire, 6 Zak Poole ©, 7 Ellis Thomas, 8 Callum Bustin.

Replacements: 16 Luke Cole, 17 Loma Kivalu, 18 Alastair Donkor, 26 John Okafor, 20 Corben Ollivent.

Rams: 15 Zach Clow (Lamb 54), 14 Axel Kalling-Smith, 13 Solodrau Radianirova, 12 Rowan Grundy, 11 Tomasz Pozniak, 10 Fraser Honey, 9 Ollie Cole (Murray 54), 1 Antony Marris (Harris 40), 2 Max Hayman ©, 3 Ryan Lomas (Baker 40), 4 Nile Dacres, 5 Dan Swain, 6 James McRae, 7 Tom Vooght, 8 Robbie Stapley (MacRae 46).

Replacements: 17 Patrick Harris, 18 James Baker, 19 Morgan MacRae, 20 Jake Murray, 21 Andrew Lamb.

Sedgley Park 30 Titans 35

Rotherham Titans secured a well-deserved 35-30 victory over a dangerous Sedgley Park side on a grey afternoon at Park Lane.

The bonus point win saw each team score 4 tries with Titans dot downs coming from Rob Povey, Jack Bergmanas, Zak Poole and Luke Cole, with Lloyd Hayes adding 15 points from the tee.

The win was a hard fought one and keeps Rotherham third ahead of the league leaders Rams visit to Clifton Lane next Saturday.

The game was anticipated to be a closely fought affair and that’s how it transpired as both teams gave their all.

Rotherham took the lead as early as the fourth minute when a nice short pass from Lloyd Hayes found Rob Povey who eyed a gap in the defence to race through and score under the posts. Hayes added the extras.

Back came Park however with winger Rhys Henderson taking advantage down the right hand side to score. Warren Seals missed the conversion to leave his side trailing.

Roth extended their lead shortly after when a powerful drive from over ten metres out saw Jack Bergmanas dot down from the tail for a converted try.

In this seesaw battle Sedgley narrowed their deficit to just two points with a lovely try from Andy Riley after good work in the build up from number 8 Tom Ailes.

The match momentum at this point tilted in favour of the home side. Seals gave Park the lead for the first time with a penalty, before late in the half hooker Adam Mallinson crashed over to score an unconverted try.

Crucially however, with the final kick of the half Titans Lloyd Hayes knocked over a 3-pointer to send his side in narrowly trailing 20-17.

Rotherham would have been concerned 8 minutes into the second period when Henderson grabbed his second try from a Warren Seals cross-field kick to dot down. Seals’ conversion stretched the home sides advantage to 10 points.

Titans would have to dig deep and find an answer if they were to secure just their second ever win at Park Lane.

And indeed they did!

Before the hour mark two converted tries put Rotherham back ahead.

Firstly, captain Zak Poole stretched over to score following some good work by the pack. That was his 49th league try which puts him level with all-time club try scorer John Dudley.

Then Harry Newborn broke away on halfway before finding Luke Cole in support, he collected and showed good pace to charge in from 30 metres.

Two late penalties from Lloyd Hayes extended Roth’s lead to 35-27 and crucially beyond a converted try.

However, with the last kick of the game Warren Seals bagged a penalty to give Sedgley Park a deserved 2nd bonus point for their efforts.

Titans would have been relieved but delighted with their victory. The only blight on the afternoon was Harry Newborn being stretched off with a nasty looking injury.

Speaking after the game Harvey Biljon reflected:

“What a performance away from home to get 5 points against a team that really fronted up and you’ve got to give Sedgley Park their credit.

“For me the impressive part was how we showed composure throughout the game. We never looked flustered, we remained calm and we just worked our way up the pitch and then went and got our scores.

“When you come up against a team that has the ability to score from anywhere, they are going to get scores against the run of play and that’s what they did.

“On the whole our control and composure was key, as was taking our opportunities when they came; whether that be three or five points.

“However, we’ll go away and address a couple of things, because there is always one or two elements where you can go away and train on them during the week to make sure we are better.

“But overall I was pleased with what we did today and Sedgley deserved their 2 points.”

Titans: Povey (T), Bergmanas (T), Poole (T), Cole (T), Hayes (3C, 3P)

Sedgley Park: Henderson (2T), A. Riley (T), Mallinson (T), Seals (2C, 2P)

Yellow Card: Bustin & Capps (Titans)

Attendance: 400

Referee: Henry Pearson

Assistant Referees: Kieron Henry & Paul Fincken

Titans: 15 Jack Townend, 14 Aidan Shortall, 13 Lloyd Hayes, 12 Jamie Cooke, 11 Ronnie Du Randt, 10 Rob Povey, 9 James Naylor (Bruzulier 46), 1 Loma Kivalu (Capps 40), 2 Jack Bergmanas (Cole 42), 3 Alastair Donkor (Foster 40), 4 Harry Gilson-Fox, 5 Curran Maguire, 6 Zak Poole ©, 7 Harry Newborn (Gascoigne 61), 8 Callum Bustin.

Replacements: 16 Luke Cole, 30 Charlie Capps ©, 18 Andrew Foster, 27 Frankie Gascoigne, 20 JB Bruzulier.

Sedgley Park: 15 Andy Riley, 14 Rhys Henderson, 13 Matt Law, 12 Matt Riley © (Glasse 70), 11 Albert Bradshaw, 10 Warren Seals, 9 Matt Sturgess, 1 John Blanchard (Downham 32) (Blanchard 60), 2 Adam Mallinson, 3 Tye Raymont (Rylance 32) (Raymont 60), 4 Bob Birtwell, 5 Connor James, 6 Braemar Murray (Deans 24), 7 Lewis Bradley, 8 Tom Ailes.

Replacements: 16 Austin Downham, 17 James O’Connell, 18 Danny Rylance, 19 Oliver Glasse, 20 Isaac Deans.

Titans 18 Plymouth Albion 17

Rotherham Titans were forced to graft hard in defence before grabbing a 18-17 victory with a last-kick-of-the-match penalty from Lloyd Hayes on a grey afternoon at Clifton Lane.

The teams shared 4 tries with Rotherham’s scores coming from Luke Cole and Rob Povey, whilst Lloyd Hayes added 8 points from the tee.

The foundation for this hard-fought victory was built on an epic defensive display by Rotherham.

However, full credit must be extended to Plymouth; they came to Clifton Lane and almost conquered on the back of a valiant effort which saw them spend long periods in the Rotherham half of the pitch.

Indeed, they deservedly took the lead inside the opening 5 minutes when hooker Rhys Williams dotted down from the tail of a catch and drive close to the line.

Titans soon responded though when following a period of forward pressure the ball arrived with hooker Luke Cole who dived over to level the scores.

Against the run of play Rotherham went ahead on 20 minutes when fly half Rob Povey intercepted a pass 5 metres from his line and raced the length of the field to score.

Rotherham spent the remainder of the half on the back foot as Albion powered forward with their big pack. Incredibly however they managed to keep them out under the severest of pressure and often on their own line.

If Roth were hoping to turn the tide in the second half they would have been disappointed. Albion continued where they’d left off in the first half as they dominated most of what went on.

Eventually the pressure told just after the hour mark when the dam broke and Plymouth were awarded a penalty try to take the lead.

Not long after Titans Lloyd Hayes and Albion’s Tom Putt traded penalties to leave the score at 17-15 to the visitors.

In a final twist however, in the very last play of the game Rotherham were awarded a penalty in front of the posts. Up stepped Hayes to nail the kick and secure an unexpected win.

Whilst Albion will no doubt feel they let this one get away, the Rotherham players can be proud of their commitment to stay in the game and their desire to put their bodies on the line to grab the win.

Commenting after the game Titans Harvey Biljon said:

“I think for the supporter watching a team win with the last play of the game is always exciting and feels rewarding, but I think this is one of those occasions where Plymouth came here and obviously really fronted up. You could see the emphasis they put in around the set piece, the scrum and the maul in particular.

“But then I’ve got to look at the reaction of our players; I thought our defensive sets and the length of time we were in those defensive sets was exceptional.

“I think the way we problem solved through the adversity of the yellow cards was really great as was the fact that in the 81st minute we could still go and find field position to earn a penalty to win the game.

“That’s what it means stepping up; the game is about small margins and today not a lot went our way, we didn’t have a lot of possession, we didn’t have a lot of territory and you’ve got to give Plymouth credit for the way they brought the game to us, but we’ll go away with a well earned and well-fought four points.”

Titans: Cole (T), Povey (T), Hayes (1C, 2P)

Plymouth Albion: Williams (T), Penalty try, Putt (1C, 1P)

Yellow Card: Capps, Thomas, Bergmanas (Titans)

Attendance: 250

Referee: Ben Rayner

Assistant Referees: Adam Carpenter & Jason Garrick

Titans: 15 Jack Townend, 14 Aidan Shortall, 13 Lloyd Hayes, 12 Jamie Cooke, 11 Ronnie Du Randt, 10 Rob Povey, 9 JB Bruzulier, 1 Charlie Capps ©, 2 Luke Cole, 3 Rikki Stout, 4 Zak Poole ©, 5 Curran Maguire, 6 Ellis Thomas, 7 Harry Newborn, 8 Callum Bustin.

Replacements: 16 Jack Bergmanas, 17 Loma Kivalu, 18 Andrew Foster, 19 Harry Gilson-Fox, 20 James Naylor.

Plymouth Albion: 15 Tom Putt, 14 Shae Cornish, 13 Archie Hill, 12 Israel Akinrowo, 11 Craig Duncan, 10 Harry Legg, 9 Jack Oulton (Capt.), 1 Jenson Boughton, 2 Rhys Williams, 3 Dan Pullinger, 4 Jake Clemson, 5 Joel Broadhurst, 6 Angus Hodges 7 Jake Bond, 8 Herbie Stupple.

Replacements: 16 Ben Moa, 17 Harry Wilkinson, 18 Ethan Burger, 19 Morgan Stone, 20 Frankie Dart.

Birmingham Moseley 19 Titans 30

Rotherham Titans bounced back to winning ways with a powerful performance to beat Birmingham Moseley 30-19 on a warm afternoon at Billesley Common.

Both teams gave their all in this tightly fought attritional encounter as they shared 6 tries, with Rotherham’s scores coming from Jamie Cooke, Ronnie Du Randt and Callum Bustin with Lloyd Hayes adding 15 points from the tee.

The win keeps Titans third in the table behind leaders Rams and second placed Richmond as they go into a week off before returning to Clifton Lane to take on Plymouth Albion in a fortnight’s time.

Billesley Common is traditionally a difficult place to go and get a result and it was no different this time around, as Rotherham had to work their socks off to grab the win.

Going down the slope in the first half Titans had to make sure they secured an advantage. However, it was them who had to withstand a barrage of home pressure early on.

Indeed, it wasn’t until just before the 20-minute mark that Lloyd Hayes slotted the opening score with a nicely taken penalty.

Rotherham by now had started to make their mark on the game and they deservedly increased their lead when centre Jamie Cooke demonstrated great desire to barge his way through to score from 25 metres out.

Almost immediately after this a stray pass from Moseley on their own 10-metre line appeared to be going into touch and everyone seemed to stop. However, Titans Ronnie Du Randt was alert enough to hack on downfield and eventually drop on the ball for an enterprising try.

On the stroke of half time Hayes added his second penalty and Rotherham went in for their refreshments with a 20-0 lead.

Moseley going down the slope in the second half virtually guarantees them winning that 40-minutes of rugby and indeed after just 3 minutes they got on the board when flanker Santiago Edwards dotted down from a catch and drive.

The try lifted the spirits and belief of the Midlanders and they tore into the Titans at every opportunity, as they looked to narrow the gap further.

However, Rotherham stood firm and drove the home side backwards on several occasion and when Lloyd Hayes slotted over his third penalty it helped to calm the nerves of the Yorkshire side.

Those nerves were steadied further after the hour mark when JB Bruzulier found debutant Aidan Shortfall on the wing, he made good ground before the ball was popped to number 8 Callum Bustin, who in turn showed tremendous strength to power over from 10 metres. Hayes’ conversion made it 30-7.

Rotherham had opportunities to grab a fourth try which would have secured the bonus point, but equally the home side put in a determined defensive shift when it was called for.

And credit to Moseley for their desire to keep going, as in the final period of the game they were able to pick up two tries from front row forward Lawson Porter and winger Dan Brough.

Nevertheless, Rotherham were pleased to come away with a good win and no doubt the players are looking forward to giving their bodies a bit of a rest with no game next week.

A delighted Harvey Biljon commented post-match:

“We were in a real game; it was one of two halves, but I’m proud of my players in both halves.

“Birmingham Moseley came at us in that first half and we withstood a lot of pressure and then we went and took some great scores.

“In the second half we countered their emotion straight after half time when they scored pretty quickly and we were able to get ourselves back into the game again.

“They say coming here and having to go up the hill in the second half is always difficult, but we were a little bit disappointed that we didn’t come away with the bonus point.

“I was pleased with how the players stuck to task and remained focused throughout the game.

“We identified a few things in training this week and the players were able to implement those things during the game and that was very pleasing.”

Titans: Cooke (T), Du Randt (T), Bustin (T), Hayes (3C, 3P)

Birmingham Moseley: Edwards (T), Porter (T), (Brough (T), Jolly (2C)

Yellow Card: Kivalu (Titans)

Attendance: 703

Referee: Iain Kiy

Assistant Referees: Kieron Henry & Jon Petzing

Titans: 15 Jack Townend (Capps 75), 14 Aidan Shortall, 13 Lloyd Hayes, 12 Jamie Cooke, 11 Ronnie Du Randt, 10 Rob Povey, 9 James Naylor (Bruzulier 40), 1 Charlie Capps © (Kivalu 53), 2 Luke Cole (Bergmanas 53), 3 Rikki Stout (30), 4 Zak Poole ©, 5 Curran Maguire, 6 Ellis Thomas, 7 Harry Newborn (Cowen-Leak 74), 8 Callum Bustin.

Replacements: 16 Jack Bergmanas, 17 Loma Kivalu (Townend 80), 18 Andrew Foster, 27 Laurence Cowen-Leak, 20 JB Bruzulier.

Birmingham Moseley: 15 Sam Pointon, 14 Dan Brough, 13 Morgan Adderly-Jones, 12 Elliott Creed (Egodo 48), 11 Aquile Smith, 10 Tommy Taylor, 9 Jack Jolly, 1 Joe Foreman (Priest 35), 18 Ryan Roach (Pogson 53), 3 David Langly (Porter 53), 4 Harry Barnes (Smith 55), 5 Harry Butler (Roach 74), 6 Fin Smith (Dawes 33), 7 Santiago Edwards, 8 Ollie Stedman (Capt.) (Barnes74).

Replacements: 2 Ben Pogson, 17 Ethan Priest, 16 Lawson Porter, 19 Morgan Dawes, 20 Tuoyo Egodo.

Titans 34 Bishop's Stortford 45

Rotherham Titans slow start to the game ultimately cost them dearly as they went down 45-34 to a lively Bishop’s Stortford outfit on a mild afternoon at Clifton Lane.

The entertaining contest saw 11 tries scored with the visitors edging the dot downs by 6 tries to 5. Rotherham’s scores came via a brace from JB Bruzulier with one each for Jamie Cooke, Tomasi Tanumi and Harry Newborn. Lloyd Hayes added 9 points from the tee.

Ironically the key to Stortford’s success was in no small part their defence!

Despite conceding 5 tries Bishop’s defensive display was one of the best seen at Clifton Lane for many years.

Rotherham were virtually camped inside the visitors 22 for the majority of the second half and despite having three players sent to the bin for repeatedly offending, Bishop’s still managed to hold out for win and full credit to them for that.

Rotherham will look back at this one and recognise the game was virtually gone inside the opening 30 minutes after Bishop’s scored 5 tries!

Titans did get on the board in the first half with a Jamie Cooke try and a penalty from Lloyd Hayes, but when you go in at the break against a good team trailing 35-8, it’s always going to be difficult thereafter.

Rotherham did respond superbly in the second period and ultimately won the half 26-10, scoring a further 4 tries and collected the bonus point.

But Bishop’s were very smart in how they handled being down to 13 players and cleverly took lots of time out of the game to frustrate Rotherham.

Reflecting after the game Harvey Biljon said:

“It was the classic “game of two halves” and although there’s some who want to talk about the positives and about winning the second half 26-10, but for us if we’re honest, we gave a team that we knew were coming here motivated opportunities and they took those opportunities.

“Although we responded it was too little too late. Our kick execution wasn’t on point, our kick chase wasn’t where it normally is and we’ve thrown the ball to them on a few occasions and then when you give up two cheap scores in the first half and one in the second half, you’re always going to be involved in a losing battle.

“Hopefully we can go away and we can pick those moments, learn from them, learn from a team that came here really motivated and recognised that we have to make sure we stay who we are, we go to Tuesday and we go to Thursday and nothing changes.

“We’ve lost a game of rugby, but importantly we got another point and now we get back into training and build from there.

Titans: Bruzulier (2T), Cooke (T), Tanumi (T), Newborn (T), Hayes (3C, 1P)

Bishop’s Stortford: Rogers (2T), Bolton (T), Biard (T), Mills (T, 1C), Penalty Try, Cooke (4C, 1P)

Yellow Card: Povey & Kivalu (Titans), Ferguson, Smith & Charter (Bishop’s)

Attendance: 250

Referee: Owen Taylor

Assistant Referees: Adam Carpenter & Kieron Henry

Titans: 15 Ronnie Du Randt, 14 Jack Hedley, 13 Lloyd Hayes, 12 Jamie Cooke, 11 Tomasi Tanumi (Capps 77), 10 Rob Povey, 9 JB Bruzulier (Naylor 76), 1 Charlie Capps (c) (Kivalu 47), 2 Jack Bergmanas (Cole 56), 3 Andrew Foster (Donkor71), 4 Zak Poole (c), 5 Curran Maguire, 6 John Okafor (Tanumi 80), 7 Harry Newborn, 8 Callum Bustin (Copley 44).

Replacements: 16 Luke Cole, 17 Loma Kivalu, 18 Alastair Donkor, 19 Ben Copley, 20 James Naylor.

Bishop’s Stortford: 15 David Hayes, 14 Tom Mills, 13 Jack Biard, 12 Austin Pope, 11 Alex Gilham, 10 Mike Cooke, 9 Chris Bolton (Briers 64), 1 Tristan Smith, 2 Alex Rayment (Moffitt 29), 3 Toby Hill (Cilia 40) (Johnson 74), 4 Hamish Ferguson (Charter 71), 5 Fraizer Kiff, 6 Harrison Langworthy, 7 Ollie Jones, 8 Will Rogers (Capt.) (Hill 64).

Replacements: 16 Ollie Moffitt, 17 Josh Cilia, 18 Harry Charter, 19 Sam Johnson, 20 Charlie Briers.

Photo: Gareth Siddons

Leicester Lions 17 Titans 34

Rotherham Titans were made to work hard for their 34-17 bonus point win over a very decent Leicester Lions outfit on a bright afternoon at Westleigh Park.

Leicester deservedly led 17-10 at the break after playing some attractive rugby, but a much improved second half performance from Rotherham eventually saw them run out worthy winners.

The South Yorkshire side outscored the hosts by 5 tries to 2 with scores coming via a brace from Ronnie Du Randt and one each for Jack Bergmanas, JB Bruzulier and Jack Hedley with Lloyd Hayes adding 9 points from the tee.

Despite the hosts enjoying the better moments in the first half it was Rotherham that scored first inside the opening ten minutes, when hooker Jack Bergmanas dotted down from the back of a powerful maul.

Leicester quickly responded however when lively fly half Tom Threlfall knocked over a 3-pointer, before centre Aaron Pope finished off a lovely flowing move that began inside the Lions half.

Titans responded and levelled the match when Ronnie Du Randt received the ball out wide before stepping back inside to score.

The home side looked bright and threatening with ball in hand, particularly when Threlfall was involved.

Indeed, it was the fly half who was instrumental in the next score when his dummied pass allowed him to break, which in turn saw the ball arrive with scrum half James Stubbs who dotted down under the sticks.

Despite Rotherham’s efforts they couldn’t add to their tally, and they went in at the break trailing and with much to ponder.

With the reset button pressed the second 40 minutes saw a much improved performance from the South Yorkshire outfit.

Ronnie Du Randt’s converted try early in the second half levelled matters after good work close to the line from Lloyd Hayes.

Titans retook the lead for the first time since the 13th minute on the hour mark when an alert JB Bruzulier sniped over to score, following some powerful work in the build up from centre Jamie Cooke.

A penalty ten minutes from time from Lloyd Hayes crucially stretched Rotherham’s lead to ten points which provided a ‘more than one score ahead’ cushion.

Then just before full time winger Jack Hedley went over in the corner following more good work in the build up from Jamie Cooke, Rob Povey and Ronnie Du Randt.

Rotherham would have been delighted, but relieved to have come away with the win and they will now look to prepare well for the next challenge which Bishop’s Stortford will present at Clifton Lane this week.

Speaking afterwards Harvey Biljon reflected:

“I am really proud of our team, it’s five points away from home in what was a very tough game. I thought the Leicester Lions team were well coached, they had a great game plan in place and they executed it very well. We had to work really hard to get the win and I know Leicester are going to win a lot of games this season.

“All week we spoke about the resilience of Leicester, we seen from their results this season they have come from behind a few times and they did that with their win against Sedgley Park. So, for us from a defensive point of view and how we controlled that second half, it made me really proud of our players.”

Titans: Du Randt (2T), Bergmanas (T), Bruzulier (T), Hedley (T), Hayes (3C, 1P)

Leicester Lions: Pope (T), Stubbs (T), Threlfall (2C, 1P)

Yellow Card: None

Attendance: 239

Referee: Jamie Parr

Assistant Referees: Tim Allatt & Jason Garrick

Titans: 15 Ronnie Du Randt, 14 Jack Hedley, 13 Lloyd Hayes, 12 Jamie Cooke, 11 Tomasi Tanumi, 10 Corben Ollivent (Povey 79), 9 JB Bruzulier, 1 Zach Toerien (Capps 40), 2 Jack Bergmanas (Cole 46), 3 Alastair Donkor (Foster 40), 4 Zak Poole (Capt.), 5 Curran Maguire, 6 John Okafor (Thomas 76), 7 Harry Newborn, 8 Callum Bustin.

Replacements: 16 Luke Cole, 17 Charlie Capps, 18 Andrew Foster, 19 Ellis Thomas, 20 Rob Povey.

Leicester Lions: 15 George Pearson, 14 Jack Edwards, 13 Aaron Pope, 12 Joe Brock, 11 Jake Sterland, 10 Tom Threlfall (Witheat 28), 9 James Stubbs, 1 Will Roberts (Dawson 61), 2 Oliver Taylor (Allen 46), 3 Isaac Thompson (Romano 46), 4 Lewis Chessum, 5 Ethan Godefroy (Capt.) (Britton 61), 6 Simon Johnson 7 Johnny Murdoch, 8 Reuben Logan.

Replacements: 16 Arthur Allen, 17 Chris Romano, 18 Aaron Dawson, 19 Joey Britton, 20 Rafe Witheat.

Photo: Steve Bott

Titans 44 Dings Crusaders 19

Rotherham Titans impressed hugely with a stunning performance to beat Dings Crusaders 45-19 on a balmy autumn afternoon at Clifton Lane.

The bonus point victory, Titans fourth in five games, was their best effort of the season and sees them rise into third place in the National 1 table behind big hitters Rams and Richmond.

Rotherham outscored the Crusaders by 5 tries to 3 with John Okafor grabbing a hat trick and Callum Bustin and Loma Kivalu chipping in with one each. Lloyd Hayes continued his impressive form off the tee by adding a further 20 points.

However, it was Dings who started the brighter and they deservedly took the lead inside the opening quarter when a powerful drive from their pack was finished off by hooker Tomos Gwilliam.

It would be fair to say at this stage there were worrying moments for Rotherham to contend with, as Dings pace made them look threatening every time they had the ball.

However, those moments quickly passed as Titans back rower John Okafor grabbed a headline-hitting hat trick.

His first try saw him pick up from the base and charged in from 20 metres to dot down, his second effort a touch less spectacular saw him collect the ball close to the line from JB Bruzulier to crash over and his third saw him carve through the Dings defence to race in for a spectacular score.

Titans had an opportunity to claim the bonus point on the stroke of half time, but a fumbled line out saw the opportunity pass.

Nevertheless, soon into the second half the bonus point was indeed collected when number 8 Callum Bustin, ably assisted by Andrew Foster powered over following a line out.

Hayes extended the home sides advantage shortly after with a penalty before on the hour mark Dings winger Deago Bailey mightily impressed with an individual score under the sticks.

Any jitters the Dings try may have initiated were soon snuffed out, as Rotherham effectively wrapped up the game when prop forward Loma Kivalu finished off a tremendously powerful maul 15 minutes from time.

Two further penalties were added by Hayes to stretch the Titans lead to 45-14, before in the final play of the game, in the sixth minute of injury time, Dings winger Sol Taufa went over in the corner.

Rotherham will have been hugely pleased with their efforts against a very good Dings outfit, but as is such, the focus will quickly switch to next week’s away game at Leicester Lions.

Commenting after the game Titans Harvey Biljon said:

“I think the whole week the players recognised the threat of Dings Crusaders and I have to commend our players for stepping up, especially from a control and concentration point.

“How they controlled when we had the ball and the concentration because of the number of threats that there were in that Dings team, across their front row all the way out to their back three.

“I was really pleased we kept them to three tries, I would have liked it to be two, but you can’t have everything.

“We were composed when we needed to be; we took the 5 points when they were on offer and we took the three points when they were too. We had a really good balance today.”

Titans: Okafor (3T), Bustin (T), Kivalu (T), Hayes (4C, 4P)

Dings Crusaders: Gwilliam (T), Bailey (T), Taufa (T), Knight (1C), Edwards (1C)

Yellow Card: Foot (Dings)

Attendance: 250

Referee: Ben Rayner

Assistant Referees: Jason Garrick & Simon Williams

Titans: 15 Ronnie Du Randt, 14 Jack Hedley, 13 Lloyd Hayes, 12 Jamie Cooke, 11 Travis Gideon, 10 Corben Ollivent, 9 JB Bruzulier (Naylor 70), 1 Charlie Capps (C-C) (Kivalu 58), 2 Luke Cole (Bergmanas 48), 3 Alastair Donkor (Foster 33) (Donkor 77), 4 Zak Poole (C-C), 5 Curran Maguire, 6 John Okafor (Cowen-Leak 58), 25 Harry Newborn, 8 Callum Bustin.

Replacements: 16 Jack Bergmanas, 17 Loma Kivalu, 18 Andrew Foster, 7 Laurence Cowen-Leak, 21 James Naylor.

Dings Crusaders: 15 Tom Foot, 14 Deago Bailey, 13 Harry Rowson, 12 Harry Tarling, 11 Sol Taufa, 10 George Boulton (Capt.) (Smith 54), 9 Tom Knight (Edwards 45), 1 Louie Trevett, 2 Tomos Gwilliam (Gollop 57), 3 Jimmy Halliwell (Ncube 46), 4 Olly Bilton, 5 Will Thompson (Alex Bilton 57), 6 Matt Lane, 7 Aaron Tull, 8 Harry Horne.

Replacements: 19 Tom Gollop, 18 Brian Ncube, 17 Alex Bilton, 21 Sam Edwards, 22 Ollie Smith.