Rotherham Titans anticipate a full-scale battle when they travel to S17 on Saturday to take on Sheffield in round 7 of National 2 North; kick-off at Abbeydale Park is 3pm.
This South Yorkshire derby is the first of four Roth will face this season and it’s inevitable the game will be a fiercely competitive affair; and with neither side willing to take a backwards step and with both sides in good form, the match promises to be a belter.
Sheffield currently sit fifth in the table following some good results which have seen them win away at Lymm and Sheffield Tigers and dole out a hammering to Preston Grasshoppers 36-14.
In defeat they haven’t been disgraced either; a two point reversal at Billingham, an 8-point loss at Wharfedale and a 5-point loss against league leaders Leeds Tykes shows how competitive they have been in every game.
Indeed they are piling on the points too; only Rotherham and Leeds Tykes have scored more in the division, and they are averaging over 4 tries per game, making them a real threat with ball in hand.
Equally however, Rotherham are pleased with their form having maintained their unbeaten status last time out with an impressive 34-19 win over Fylde.
So all things being considered everything is set for a close and entertaining contest.
Overall the sides have met on 2 previous league occasions, both of which took place last season and both of which saw Rotherham come out on top.
The only other meeting was a Pilkington Cup match in September 1989 which ended in a 13-all draw and saw Titans Director of Rugby, Martin Jenkinson score his sides only try. Rotherham progressed into the next round as the away team.
Going into Saturday’s match Roth have made six changes to their starting XV, four of which come in the backline
Making his debut on the wing is Lewis Winterbottom who comes in for Tomasi Tanumi, whilst Dan Rundle comes back in on the other wing for Jack Render. Callum Bustin returns to the side at inside centre for Harry Dunne and Kareem Eissa comes in at scrum half for JB Bruzulier.
In the pack Luke Cole returns at hooker for Jack Bergmanas and John Okafor comes into the back row for Rupert Kay.
Speaking ahead of the game Titans head coach, Gary Pearce said:
“We were obviously pleased with our win over Fylde, we got the five points and in the first half I thought we played really well. Some decisions went against us in the second half, but our defence held up really strong and the lads fully deserved their win.
“We have another tough one this week against Sheffield; they had a good win last week and we’ll give them lots of respect. It’s a derby game and both teams will be looking forward to it and both teams will go looking for the bragging rights.
“All away games are tough and the ones against your closest rivals are just that bit tougher as there’s a bit more spice about them.
“We’ve prepared well for the game though and we’ll go there with a fighting chance and give it everything – hopefully that will be enough to see us get the win, but it won’t be easy.”
Titans: 15 Jack Townend, 14 Dan Rundle, 13 Lloyd Hayes, 27 Callum Bustin, 11 Lewis Winterbottom, 10 Will Milner, 9 Kareem Eissa, 1 Charlie Capps, 2 Luke Cole, 3 Gareth Denman, 4 Matt Challinor, 5 Matt Smith, 19 John Okafor, 7 Laurence Cowen-Leak, 8 Zak Poole (Capt.).
Replacements: 16 Jack Bergmanas, 17 Loma Kivalu, 30 Reece Ward, 18 Marcus Payne, 20 Tomasi Tanumi.
