Rotherham Titans are all-set for the huge test that Hull will bring this weekend, when they host their Yorkshire rivals in round 10 of National 2 North on Saturday; kick-off at Clifton Lane is 2pm.
Titans impressed last time out with a dominant 49-24 away win over Hull Ionians to maintain their unbeaten start to the season. The scoreline could have been even more impressive but for a slip in concentration late on which allowed I’s to run in three converted tries in the final 12 minutes.
Nevertheless Rotherham decisively picked up the bonus point and narrowed the gap to Leeds at the top to 6 points with a game in hand.
This week however it will be important to maintain focus throughout, as Hull will arrive with confidence having lost just once in their last five outings; that defeat came at Wharfedale where there’s no disgrace in coming second best at The Avenue.
Also adding to the occasion, in the oppositions dug out on Saturday will be a Rotherham legend in former player and coach, Mike Umaga.
Mike made 161 appearances for the club over a 6 years period; 31 of which were in the Premiership, with a further 8 in European competitions. He scored a total of 660 points with 47 tries, 91 conversions and 81 penalties.
He scored points in the Premiership wins over London Irish and Saracens at Clifton Lane and scored a try on his final appearance in the 26-20 Premiership defeat to Newcastle Falcons at Don Valley Stadium in 2004.
Mike will be warmly welcomed by all at Rotherham.
Overall the teams have only met on 2 previous league occasions, with the score standing at 1 apiece. Each side won their home game in the 2021/22 season; the year Hull deservedly won Nat 2 North and gained promotion into National 1.
Going into the match Titans have made four changes to the starting XV that beat Ionians; with two each coming in the forwards and backs.
In the pack Loma Kivalu and Reece Ward come into the front row for Charlie Capps and Gareth Denman respectively, both of whom drop to the bench.
Whilst along the backline Jack Render comes in for Jack Taylor on the wing and scrum half Will Metcalfe, who joined the club this week on loan from Doncaster Knights, makes his debut as JB Bruzulier goes onto the bench.
Speaking ahead of the match Titans head coach, Gaz Lewis said:
“I think we are heading in the right direction following the Ionians game; we scored 7 tries and any side that scores 7 tries away from home deserves a lot of credit. I was pleased with how we attacked; we scored some excellent team tries and a couple of very good individual ones too. I thought John Okafor’s intuition to bust the line, release the ball and then pick it up to run in under the posts was outstanding.
“The lads were particularly outstanding just before the break when we went down to 14 and they camped on our line. I thought that was a significant psychological moment in the game; it would have been easy for us to crumble and concede a try and almost use the reason of being a player short for that. But the boys held out superbly and that will stand us in good stead for future moments in games when we come under the pump.
“That resilience and collective resolve to get through will need to be there again against Hull, because they are a good side who will present us with another tough challenge.
“Hull’s results this year have been a little bit inconsistent; they’ve had some outstanding wins and a couple of results that haven’t quite gone their way; but any team that’s recently been in National 1 will pose a big challenge and we’ll give them our full respect.
“They’ve got a good front row and they are well coached by Mike Umaga. There are players in both teams that have connections with each club and that means there’ll be added spice to the fixture. Certainly it’s not a game we are taking lightly; we are aware of the threats they possess and we’ll need to be on point.
“We’ll try and continue to build our framework; we’ve put a framework together to help us improve and the lads have a clear understanding of that. I’d like to see us be a bit more robust in defence, as we’ve leaked a few tries in the last couple of weeks and I’d also like to see our scrum rewarded for the quality we have there.”
Titans: 15 Jack Townend, 14 Dan Rundle, 13 Lloyd Hayes, 12 Tomasi Tanumi, 11 Jack Render, 10 Will Milner, 9 Will Metcalfe, 1 Loma Kivalu, 2 Jack Bergmanas, 3 Reece Ward, 4 Matt Challinor, 5 Matt Smith, 6 John Okafor, 7 Laurence Cowen-Leak, 8 Zak Poole (Capt.).
Replacements: 16 Luke Cole, 17 Charlie Capps, 18 Gareth Denman, 19 Harry Dunne, 20 JB Bruzulier.
