This game from the 2014/15 season saw Titans host Welsh side Aberavon Wizards in round 2 of the British & Irish Cup.
Following a tight, low-scoring first half, Roth went in at the break holding a narrow 8-6 advantage. However, the home side showed their class in the second period as they ran out 37-13 winners, to make it 2 out of 2 in the B&I Cup.
Titans’ scored six tries through Zylon McGaffin, Toby Williams, Ali Birch, Tom Holmes, Lloyd Hayes and Tom Barrett, who also added 7 points from the tee.
Check out all the scores from the game HERE
Post match coaches comments:
Roth - Lee Blackett: “The last 20 minutes showed what we’re about and I’m really pleased with that moving forward. I think it was our best 20 minute performance since the Bedford game earlier on in the season. We were really quick in our approach and played at a good tempo and we seemed to go up a gear and develop an edge. It was a case of just turning the screw in the last 20 minutes and we did and we were relentless.
“If we’d kicked our points we would have scored 50 points today and that is against a good Aberavon team who beat Ulster last week. So I’m really delighted having arrived at the ground this morning expecting a really close game. We gave some boys an opportunity and I was pleased with how they performed.
“I was really pleased with how James Mitchell played when he came on; he really speeded up the game; in fact I was delighted with how both our scrum halves performed.
“Toby Williams also had a good game; he’s a great guy who’s easy to coach and loved around the club. You know what you’re going to get from him; he’s such a good professional.
“We are delighted with our opening efforts in this competition and if someone had offered my nine points after two games we’ve had taken that. But there’s no point starting like we have and then going to Ulster and losing, so we know what a vital game that’s going to be next week.”
Aberavon - Jason Hyatt: “This was a step-up for us. Our young players will have learned a lot. I thought we deserved to get a point out of it.
“It’s a real cause of concern that we got three yellow cards and it makes it difficult to defend against; we have to tighten up in this area.
“For us, this Cup is all about getting our preparation right for November and the Premiership. It’s going to be a big month for us.
“Rotherham are a well-coached side and a fully professional outfit, but we have to expose ourselves to this type of competition.
“We pulled it back in the second half and scored a nice try but if you make mistakes against professional opponents you get punished.”
Referee: Andy Brace (IRU)
Attendance: 827
Yellow Card: I. Davies, Grabham & Harvey (Aberavon)
Titans: McGaffin (T), Williams (T), Birch (T), Holmes (T), Hayes (T), Barrett (T, P, 2C)
Aberavon: Pritchard (T), M Williams (P), C Thomas (P, C)
Titans: 15 Lloyd Hayes, 14 Michael Keating, 13 Joel Gill (Roberts 51), 12 Jordan Davies, 11 Craig Dowsett, 10 Tom Barrett, 9 Zylon McGaffin (Mitchell 62), 1 Toby Williams (Gadd 61), 2 Johnny Mathews, 3 Adam Macklin (Tampin 54), Perry Parker (Parkinson 67), 5 Tom Holmes (Capt.), 6 Max Argyle (Rieder 51), 7 Ali Birch, 8 Willie Ryan (Preece 54).
Replacements: 16 Jack Preece, 17 Marshall Gadd, 18 Mark Tampin, 19 Ollie Parkinson, 20 Alex Rieder, 21 James Mitchell, 22 Jack Roberts.
Aberavon Wizards: 15 Morgan Williams, 14 Aaron Grabham, 13 Joe Gage (Jenkins 58), 12 David Evans (Price h/t), 11 Stef Andrews, 10 Ceiron Thomas, 9 David Pritchard, 1 Neil White, 2 Ieuan Davies (Harvey 58), 3 Ryan Harford (M Davies 54), 4 Ian Moore (Capt.), 5 Sam Williams (Beard 62), 6 Rob Dudley-Jones (Gwynne 42), 7 Nathan Brown (L Evans 68), 8 Ben Thomas.
Replacements: 16 Lee Evans, 17 Matthew Jenkins, 18 William Price, 19 Gareth Harvey, 20 Andrew Gwynne, 21 Adam Beard, 22 Marcus Davies.
Check out all the scores from the game HERE
