Rotherham Titans anticipate a fierce encounter this weekend when they take on Sheffield Tigers in round 12 of National 2 North; kick-off on Saturday at Clifton Lane is 2pm.
Titans suffered their first defeat of the season last time out with a narrow 26-20 loss to league leaders Leeds and they will be keen to get back to winning ways.
However, the challenge this week will be no less daunting as South Yorkshire rivals Sheffield Tigers are the opposition.
Tigers are enjoying an excellent season and currently sit fourth in the table following good wins over Otley, Hull Ionians, Huddersfield, Preston Grasshoppers, Billingham and Lymm.
Indeed in the corresponding fixture last season at Clifton Lane it was the Sheffield side that ran out worthy winners and they will fancy repeating the result again on Saturday.
Overall the teams have previously met on 4 league occasions, with the score standing at 3-1 to Rotherham.
Going into the game Titans have made three changes to their starting XV, two of which come in the forwards.
Luke Cole comes into the side at hooker for Jack Bergmanas, whilst Callum Bustin comes into a reshuffled back row for Laurence Cowen-Leak.
The one change in the backs sees Jack Taylor come in for Harry Dunne.
Speaking ahead of the match Titans Harvey Biljon said:
“I am still very encouraged by our performance at Leeds; to pick up a test like that at this point has highlighted some areas where we can continue to improve. I’m very encouraged by the player’s response, which means we are a team that will continue to improve as the season goes on.
“When your opponents scores four tries you should come away frustrated with your defensive performance, but in actual fact if you look at our defence over the last 3 weeks and in the challenges that Leeds posed us, I think you can see we are making big strides and that will continue to improve.
“I am thoroughly enjoying all the rivalries since I arrived at Rotherham; I think it’s brilliant. Everyone has been very welcoming and very kind and I’ve enjoyed all the discussions with all the coaches we’ve had to date and I look forward to meeting the Sheffield Tigers coaches.
“I’ve had a brief look at their squad and they’ve got lots of Championship experience, as do we, and they’ve got some players who for a very long time were good performers in the Championship.
“I think the results from last season were one either way; Tigers are having a good season and I’m pretty sure they’ll see this as a good opportunity with Rotherham losing at Leeds to have a real go at the Titans.
“On the flip side I think this is a different Rotherham Titans team and I think they are approaching games very differently to where they have in the past and I think there’s a little bit more maturity and understanding and a bit of excitement around the games that are coming.
“We are not going to go away from what we’ve been building over the last few weeks; I think this team has identified its strengths and it’s creating its own identity. I love the way the players are taking ownership of what they are about and I love the fantastic turnout of support, like we had against Hull and the away support at Leeds.
“I think that’s one of the most impressive things since being at Rotherham that’s coming across to me and I think that it makes a big difference to us out on the park and our players want to go out there and perform. Hopefully we’ll have that level of support again on Saturday.”
Titans: 15 Jack Townend, 14 Dan Rundle, 13 Lloyd Hayes, 12 Tomasi Tanumi, 11 Jack Taylor, 10 Will Milner, 9 JB Bruzulier, 1 Charlie Capps, 2 Luke Cole, 3 Gareth Denman, 4 Matt Challinor, 5 Matt Smith, 19 John Okafor, 7 Zak Poole (Capt.), 8 Callum Bustin.
Replacements: 16 Jack Bergmanas, 17 Loma Kivalu, 18 Laurence Cowen-Leak, 20 Harry Dunne, 23 Will Metcalfe.
