Rotherham Titans ran out 67-15 winners over a spirited Harrogate side, as they started their Nat 2 North campaign in impressive fashion on a warm afternoon at Clifton Lane.
Titans outscored their county rivals by 9 tries to 2 with a brace of tries from Lloyd Hayes and one each for Jack Taylor, Jack Hedley, Gareth Denman, Zak Poole, Louis Inman, Sam Boxhall and Kai Ramrattan. Lloyd Hayes also added 22 points from the tee to cap off an outstanding individual performance.
Ahead of the game a minute's silence was impeccably observed as a mark of respect for William Barrack, Harrogate Club President, who sadly died last week.
Titans’ first half performance was outstanding; it was full of energy and dynamism and it saw them score 6 tries to a solitary penalty for the visitors.
Lloyd Hayes jinked back inside as early as the 3rd minutes to set the home side on their way and then dusted himself down to convert; he added a 3-pointer shortly after to race the Titans into a 10-0 lead after 8 minutes.
Within the next 10 minutes Rotherham’s wingers Jack Taylor and Jack Hedley both dotted down on debut. Corben Ollivent was instrumental in setting up the former with a nice break; then a quick tap from scrum half Sam Boxhall led to the latter. In between Rory MacNab sandwiched a 3-pointer in for the visitors.
Lloyd Hayes added a second penalty for Titans early into the second quarter, before a rampant home side scored a three further tries inside the final 7 minutes of the half.
Gareth Denman, on his return to his home club, was the next to cross the whitewash and although the tighthead may feel he went in from 40 metres, in actual fact it was more like 15 – it was still no mean feat from the local hero who showed great power to get over.
That man Hayes just wouldn’t go away and up he popped again shortly after to dot down for his second try. He and Sam Veall interchanged passes before the centre danced though for a nice score.
The final play of the half saw Titans score their only set piece try of the game. From a line out close to the line skipper Zak Poole broke off the maul to charge in near the corner.
The half time oranges would have tasted very sweet indeed.
It appeared as if Rotherham’s first half dominance would continue throughout the second, as replacement hooker Louis Inman showed a good appetite to crash over for a try on debut, following a nice switch in play from the backs.
However, credit must be afforded Harrogate, as they showed impressive spirit and determination to keep going and indeed take it to the Titans.
A 20-minute spell followed whereby the visitors scored two tries through hooker Jacob Garrett and fly half Tom Steene; the latter came via an interception, but they all count.
Rotherham did however manage to regroup late on and finish off with another couple of tries from Sam Boxhall and replacement scrum half Kai Ramrattan – another player enjoying his debut with a try.
So whilst Rotherham may face stiffer test this season, starting with an away trip to top side Hull Ionians next week, they will be overjoyed to kick-off their campaign with such an enterprising performance.
Speaking after the game Titans Adam Byron said:
"It is great to score nine tries in any game, but it’s how we created those tries that is the pleasing thing.
"We stuck to our process and made sure we finished things off when we got the opportunity.
"Lloyd Hayes was different class today with his footwork and his understanding of the game. He played really well.
"The new team has had some game time together and we will put our hands up and say the pre-season games were tough. We defended a lot and didn't get chance to play much, so it has been really pleasing to get the ball in hand and show what we can do."
Referee: Matt Sharpe
Attendance: 250
Yellow Card: None
Titans: Taylor (T), Hedley (T), Denman (T), Poole (T), Inman (T), Boxhall (T), Ramrattan (T), Hayes (2T, 8C, 2P)
Harrogate: Garrett (T), Steene (T), MacNab (1C, 1P)
Titans: 15 Sam Veall, 14 Jack Hedley (Bustin 77), 13 Lloyd Hayes, 12 Harry Dunne, 11 Jack Taylor (Ramrattan 17), 10 Corben Ollivent (Taylor 69), 9 Sam Boxhall, 1 Charlie Capps (Rylance 40), 2 Jack Bergmanas (Inman 41), 3 Gareth Denman (Stout 40), 4 Zak Poole (Capt.) (Allan 45), 5 Theo Nwosu-Hope, 6 Rupert Kay 7 Lewis Wilson, 8 Callum Bustin (Poole 60).
Replacements: 16 Louis Inman, 27 Rikki Stout, 18 Danny Rylance, 19 Lewis Allan, 20 Kai Ramrattan.
Harrogate: 15 Rory MacNab, 14 Oliver Pearson, 13 Jack Kennell, 12 Jordan Cummings (Raubitschek 54), 11 Will Yates, 10 Tom Steene, 9 Alex Ibbotson (Fox 69), 1 Seifeldin Elsayed, 2 Jacob Garrett (Derbyshire 54) (Garrett 69), 3 Tom Baxter, 4 Tomas Phipps (Booth 50), 5 Sam Brady (Capt.), 6 Cameron Breen (Jones 35), 7 Will Hill, 8 Thomas Spencer-Jones.
Replacements: 18 Henry Derbyshire, 16 Gregory Jones, 19 Kurtis Booth, 21 Ben Raubitschek, 20 Sam Fox.
Photo Credit: Gareth Siddons