Rotherham Titans are fully prepared for the challenge top four outfit Chinnor will present when they welcome the Thame-based team to Clifton Lane on Saturday for round 21 of National One; kick-off is 2pm.
Following last weekend’s defeat to Darlington, there were some positives for the South Yorkshire side, not least the fact that they scored five tries and collected a losing bonus point.
Indeed, Rotherham’s tally of 15 tries in their last four outings since the turn of the year, strikes hope that with ten games remaining they are capable of climbing out of the relegation zone.
However, Chinnor are undefeated in their last five away games and with Director of Rugby, Matt Williams, assembling a quality squad this term, the challenge on Saturday will no doubt be a tough one.
Going into the match Titans have made four changes to their starting XV, three of which are forced.
Along the backline; at full back Tom Bacon is unavailable and Rotherham have drafted in Tom Benjamin on a loan deal from Championship side Nottingham to cover his absence. Whilst on the wing there’s a return for Dan Leake, meaning Connor Dever moves back to scrum half in place of Sam Boxhall.
In the pack; at loosehead prop Harry Whitfield comes in for the injured Toby Williams and in a reshuffled back row Ben Waddington starts at number 8, as Zak Poole moves to openside for the injured Alfie North.
On the bench there’s a notable mention for Rikki Stout who is likely to see his first action of the season following his recovery from a serious knee injury.
Commenting ahead of the match Titans’ Steve Salvin said, “I think we saw a lot of positives from the game against Darlington, but I think what did disappoint us was that we didn’t kick as well as we have been doing recently; we lacked a bit of efficiency there.
“Where we have been getting a fair return from our kicking to compete recently, too many of our kicks last week weren’t contestable and that was a little bit frustrating.
“However, what was positive was the fact we scored five tries and created lots of opportunities against one of the best sides in the division. In our last four games we have scored 15 tries and that has to be a massive positive from where we were previously.
“Against Chinnor we’ll need to work hard to create those opportunities, as they are a good side with quality players in their squad. They are very physical and they like to play with some pace and the challenge for us is to try and take something from the game.
“We’ve taken points from all our previous four games and the aim is for us to keep improving in the areas where we’ve been lacking a bit of late, and if we do that, then hopefully we can take something from the game.”
Titans: 15 Tom Benjamin, 14 Ben Robbins, 13 Jamie Cooke, 12 Tom Bullough, 11 Dan Leake, 10 Sam Hollingsworth, 9 Connor Dever, 1 Harry Whitfield, 2 Jack Bergmanas, 3 Will Dennis, 4 Dan Preston-Routledge, 5 Kieran Frost, 6 Lewis Wilson, 7 Zak Poole (Capt.), 8 Ben Waddington.
Replacements: 16 Harry Newborn, 17 Rikki Stout, 18 Elliott Ward, 19 Sam Boxhall, 20 Harry Dunne.
