At long last we can finally announce a Titans team ready for league action.
It’s been 546 days since our last league game and we look forward to welcoming everyone back to Clifton Lane for what looks like being a classic Yorkshire derby against our old friends from Wharfedale.
Wharfedale’s last league visit to Clifton Lane took place in November 1989 for a North 2 fixture, which Rotherham narrowly edged 21-18.
Going into the new season Titans have added 23 new faces to the squad that suffered relegation in a Covid affected National 1 campaign last time out.
Roth’s two pre-season fixtures were against opposition from the higher division of National 1 and despite defeat in both games to Sale FC and Leeds Tykes, the new squad benefitted hugely from the run outs.
Speaking ahead of tomorrow’s game, Titans head coach, Steve Salvin said:
“We now find ourselves in National 2 North; I have coached in this league before and I know it is a phenomenally competitive league, it’s a very tough, attritional league, but there are also exceptionally capable rugby players and teams in there.
“As a relegated side coming down we understand that to some degree we’re going to have a target on our back and teams will be looking to take our scalp. However, if we are to have a successful season we need to overcome this and the best way for us to do that is by sheer hard work in everything that we do.
“We know Wharfedale will see this game as an opportunity to give us a bloody nose. Their coach Jon Feeley is first and foremost an excellent coach and he will have his group very well prepared.
“People keep reminding me that we’ve played Wharfedale twice in pre-season games in the last few years and lost both times, so if that’s not a warning shot to us, I don’t know what would be!
“I am expecting a full-throttle, extremely tough and very intense Yorkshire derby and games like this are generally not won by a lot of points; so we are expecting a very close and a very tight affair.”
Titans: 15 Cameron McDonald, 14 Connor Field, 13 Lloyd Hayes, 12 Mat Clark, 11 Jamie Cooke, 10 Jonny West, 9 Sam Boxhall, 1 Charlie Capps, 2 Harry Newborn, 3 Colin Quigley, 4 Matt Challinor, 5 Matt Smith, 6 Theodore Nwosu-Hope, 7 Marcus Payne, 8 Zak Poole (Capt.).
Replacements: 16 Fran Entressengle, 17 Alastair Donkor, 18 Rikki Stout, 19 Matti Williams, 20 Sam Pocklington.
