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.