Rotherham Titans are all set and ready to get their National 2 North 22/23 season underway when they host Harrogate RUFC at Clifton Lane on Saturday; KO is 2pm.
The start of a season is an exciting occasion as all teams have their hopes and dreams fully intact and Rotherham are no different as they eagerly await the first whistle.
Rotherham ultimately came up short last season as a horrendous list of injuries undoubtedly affected their title aspirations.
Nevertheless, credit and congratulations must be offered to Hull as they fully deserved their success following an outstanding season which saw them consistently put in winning performances.
However, the nature of sport dictates that you only ever really look forward and Rotherham’s focus now is on Harrogate this Saturday.
Whilst Titans have re-signed 20 players from last year’s squad they have also made a number of additions ahead of the new season, with five of those making the starting XV.
A front row of Charlie Capps and Jack Bergmanas will be completed by the return to the club of local lad Gareth Denman.
The second row sees two players start from last term with skipper Zak Poole and back five forward Theo Nwosu-Hope. Matt Challinor and Matt Smith are both unavailable through injury.
The back row is made up of Lewis Wilson and Callum Bustin and they are joined by another new face in Rupert Kay.
Along the backline Sam Boxhall starts at scrum half with alongside him at fly half another new face in Corben Ollivant. Corben has enjoyed a promising pre-season campaign and much will be expected from his this term.
There’s a familiar look with the centre pairing of Harry Dunne and Lloyd Hayes, whilst a new wing combination sees Jack Taylor and Jack Hedley given their debuts.
The exciting Sam Veall starts at full back and much is anticipated from him this year; Sam may pop up at fly half during the season as his skill-set makes him a threat from anywhere on the park.
On the bench and covering hooker is Louis Inman, the 18 year-old former Old Brodleians front rower has super impressed in pre-season and fully deserves his opportunity.
Titans stalwart Rikki Stout and new recruit from Rossendale, Danny Rylance, will no doubt see some action in the front row, whilst Lewis Allan will be on hand to cover the back five. Scrum half Kai Ramrattan, is the sole back on the bench.
Speaking ahead of the game Titans head coach, Adam Byron said:
“We are delighted to be back at Clifton Lane for our first game of the 2022/23 season.
“It was obviously disappointing to come up short last season, but the injury list in the end just proved too much for us and so congratulations go out to Hull who had a great season and deserved to win the league.
“We are a club that will never settle for mediocrity and we will always want to be pushing for that top spot and when we don’t hit our targets we are naturally disappointed. That will continue this season and that’s the type of club that I and the players want to be involved with.
“Over the summer we have strengthened the squad with some fresh faces, but I was delighted with how many of last year’s squad were really keen to stay with us for this season.
“We’ve just finished what was a very challenging set of fixtures for our pre-season preparations and that shows the standard that this club is aiming to be at.
We wanted to play teams that were really going to test us and I think the main thing we took away from those games is we are already capable of competing with sides at the next level.
“Obviously there were a couple of chinks that were highlighted that we need to improve on, but the boy’s confidence should have risen massively on the back of those performances.
“So we will give it a real go again this season and although it’s a cliché, we really will take it one game at a time and give all our opposition the respect they deserve, because if we get ahead of ourselves we are likely to come unstuck as we did on a couple of occasions last year.
“That will start with Harrogate and we will give them the respect they deserve. Obviously at the start of the season there are lots of unknowns, but we do know from last year they were probably the best scrummaging side in the league and they gave us a hard time up front and I would expect something similar again this weekend.
“However, the boys are up for a challenge and they will relish the opportunity to go out there and hopefully hit the ground running.”
Titans: 15 Sam Veall, 14 Jack Hedley, 13 Lloyd Hayes, 12 Harry Dunne, 11 Jack Taylor, 10 Corben Ollivent, 9 Sam Boxhall, 1 Charlie Capps, 2 Jack Bergmanas, 3 Gareth Denman, 4 Zak Poole (Capt.), 5 Theo Nwosu-Hope, 6 Rupert Kay 7 Lewis Wilson, 8 Callum Bustin.
Replacements: 16 Louis Inman, 17 Rikki Stout, 18 Danny Rylance, 19 Lewis Allan, 20 Kai Ramrattan.
