Rotherham Titans are all set for what is expected to be an attacking contest this weekend, when they travel to free-scoring side Bournville in round 17 of National 2 North; kick-off at Avery Fields on Saturday is 3pm.
Outside of the top 6 teams in the division, no other side has scored more points than Bournville and as such Rotherham are expecting the Birmingham based side to pose an attacking threat.
Indeed, the reverse fixture at Clifton Lane in week 3, saw the ‘Chocos’ (as they are known due to their historic relationship with Cadburys) run Rotherham as close as any team this term and it took a Lloyd Hayes last-kick-of-the-match penalty to seal a high-scoring 48-46 win.
That game back in September was not one for faint-hearted Titans, as the lead changed hands 5 times in a 13 try bonanza and on Bournville’s artificial surface this weekend all the ingredients are there for another try fest.
Both teams will go into this game on the back of victories; Bournville secured an impressive 24-17 away win at Harrogate, whilst Roth battled hard to edge a very good Sedgley Park side 13-12 at Clifton Lane.
Titans have made 2 changes to their starting XV, with one each in the backs and forwards. The sole change across the backline sees Jamie Cooke return on the wing for Tom Lewis, whilst in the forwards Theo Nwosu-Hope comes in for Matt Challinor at second row.
Looking ahead to the game Titans Adam Byron said:
“We’re back on the road again and we’re back on to a synthetic pitch; we can be confident our game should suit the surface and we will enjoy playing on that sort of pitch.
“Bournville gave us a great game at Clifton Lane earlier in the season and we just managed to get over the line at the end in a high-scoring affair, I’m sure they’ll be up for trying to reverse that score this week.
“We know they can attack, the stats prove that, so we’ll need to make sure our defence is once again on point.”
Titans: 15 George Tucker, 14 Connor Field, 13 Lloyd Hayes, 12 Harry Dunne, 11 Jamie Cooke, 10 Matt Minogue, 9 Sam Boxhall, 1 Charlie Capps, 2 Harry Newborn, 3 Rikki Stout, 4 Theo Nwosu-Hope, 5 Matt Smith, 6 Harry Williams, 7 Keifer Laxton, 8 Zak Poole (Capt).
Replacements: 16 Jack Bergmanas, 17 Colin Quigley, 18 Alastair Donkor, 19 Matti Williams, 20 Joe Carlisle.
