Rotherham Titans will look to record three consecutive victories for the first time since April 2015 when they host Cornish Pirates in round 14 of the Greene King IPA Championship on Saturday; kick-off at Clifton Lane is 2pm.
Following back-to-back victories over Richmond and Connacht Eagles in the British & Irish Cup, Rotherham are enjoying resurgence in form and confidence ahead of the Cornishmen’s visit this weekend.
Titans’ last outing was particularly impressive as they ran out 27-3 winners away in Ireland to a decent Connacht outfit, which included the bonus-point try. Titans only other game this season in which they have secured the try-bonus was against Cornish Pirates back in September, where they ran in seven that day!
Following last week’s win, Titans head coach, Nic Rouse, has stayed with the same match day 22 and has made only one change to the starting XV which sees Adam Peters start at blindside flanker as Tom Burns drops onto the bench.
Speaking ahead of the Cornish side’s visit, Rouse explained, "We know Pirates are a good Championship team who have improved massively as the season has gone on.
“They are quite a laid back team, but they can turn it on in the blink of an eye. They are never out of a game; they can be trailing by some margin but they have the ability to flick the switch and before you know it they’ve gone over 3 times. When they’re at their best they are a quality side.
“They will look to get penalties and kick for the corners, they’re no different to most Championship sides in that regard and we’ll need to be strong in that area. I think we have been in the last few weeks, which is good, but we can always improve and get better. Then when they get inside your 22 they look to pick and go.
“However, they’re not a one dimensional side; they have some quality in their backline and pace to go with it, especially in their back three.
“But we can’t worry too much about what the opposition may do; we need to focus on what we want to do in the game. We need to impose ourselves on them and put them under pressure and when teams are put under pressure that’s when mistakes can happen.
“Our defence will have to be super tight this week and when we get into their 22 we need to be clinical and take our chances; if we do that I think we can be on the right side of the result.”
Titans: 15 Caolan Ryan, 14 Drew Cheshire, 13 Jamie Cooke, 12 Joe Barker, 11 Will Thomas, 10 Lee Millar, 9 Rhodri Davies, 1 Toby Williams, 2 Jonny Murphy, 3 Andrew Foster, 4 Rob Louw, 5 James Lasis, 6 Adam Peters, 7 Charlie Maddison, 8 Tom Calladine (Capt.).
Replacements: 16 Luke Cole, 17 Tom Williams, 18 Tom Burns, 19 Nic Dolly, 20 Dan Grange, 21 Ben Foley, 22 Jake Henry.
