Rotherham Titans anticipate a bruising encounter when they host Wharfedale in round 14 of National 2 North at Clifton Lane on Saturday; Titans final fixture of 2023 kicks-off at 2pm.
Fresh from an impressive 34-7 win at Preston Grasshoppers, which saw them outscore the hosts by 6 tries to 1, Rotherham are relishing the formidable challenge that third-placed side Wharfedale will bring this weekend.
Wharfedale are traditionally a physical team that can, and often do, intimidate opposition; and this desirable characteristic has helped them to win 9 of their 12 games this season.
Subsequently, the North Yorkshire side will arrive at Clifton Lane confident of taking away the pre-Christmas spoils and having won the corresponding fixture last season, they’ll believe a repeat result is within their grasp.
Rotherham too are enjoying a fine season having lost just one game to date; that being a narrow reversal away to league leaders Leeds Tykes. Hence, they too have confidence going into a game which could develop into a thunderous Christmas cracker.
Overall the teams have met in the league on 7 occasions, with Rotherham holding a slender 4-3 advantage. The teams also met in round 3 of the Pilkington Cup back in 1994, where Roth edged a close 33-30 win.
Going into the game on Saturday Rotherham have made three changes to their starting XV, two of which come in the forwards.
Jack Bergmanas comes into the side at hooker for Luke Cole, whilst Rupert Kay comes into a reshuffled back row for John Okafor, as skipper Zak Poole moves from openside to blindside.
The one change in the backs sees Tainne Finn make his club debut on the wing, as he comes in for Jack Taylor.
Speaking ahead of the match Titans Gaz Lewis said:
“Reflecting on our performance against Preston, the more I’m convinced it was an outstanding performance. We spoke before the game about our discipline and about being professional on the road, because each game is a potential banana skin and everything we did was how we’d prepared.
“The forward pack was outstanding; the scrum functioned really well and we caused them problems all afternoon. Matt Smith led the line out really well and I thought tactically and technically it was top drawer.
“The discipline side was really pleasing too; we only conceded 7 penalties and that’s something we’ve focused on in recent weeks; so that was a big step forward.
“I thought physically we dominated and our defence was outstanding and it will need to be the same against Wharfedale.
“They’re obviously having a very successful season and they’ve been in the top 3 for most of it. They pride themselves on having a lot of home-grown players in the squad and we know from earlier in the season how tough an opponent they are and we won’t underestimate them.
“They’ve just brought Rian Hamilton back to the club from Cambridge, who I know well from my time at Huddersfield and he’s a real threat in the wide channels.
“They also pushed Leeds for large parts of that game and if they can go toe-to-toe with them they are an obvious threat to any side in the division.
“Wharfedale will have their moments in the game, it’s how we manage those moments; we’ll need to remain disciplined, stick to the game plan and back our ability to come through those challenging times.
“We’ll try to continue in the same direction as we’ve been going in the last few weeks; we have a clear identity in how we want to play, the players have been receptive to the changes that we’ve brought in and there are a lot of smiles on faces.
“If we play to our potential we can come out on the right side of the result and bring some early Christmas cheer to our supporters. Our fans have been fantastic; we obviously have a great home support and we get an amazing support away from home too.”
Titans: 15 Jack Townend, 14 Dan Rundle, 13 Lloyd Hayes, 12 Harry Dunne, 11 Tainne Finn, 10 Will Milner, 9 JB Bruzulier, 1 Charlie Capps, 2 Jack Bergmanas, 3 Gareth Denman, 4 Matt Challinor, 5 Matt Smith, 6 Zak Poole (Capt.), 7 Rupert Kay, 8 Callum Bustin.
Replacements: 16 Luke Cole, 17 Loma Kivalu, 18 Laurence Cowen-Leak, 19 John Okafor, 20 Tomasi Tanumi.
