Rotherham Titans put in a dominant forward display to overpower Preston Grasshoppers 34-7 on a wet and windy afternoon at Lightfoot Green Lane.
Titans outscored the hosts by 6 tries to 1, with scores from Callum Bustin, Zak Poole, Charlie Capps, John Okafor, Jack Bergmanas and Rupert Kay, with Lloyd Hayes adding 4 points from the tee.
The result keeps Rotherham in second place in the table and narrows the gap to Leeds to 6 points.
The match was played in awful wintry conditions as the rain lashed down and the wind swept through. It wasn’t a day for expansive rugby; it was always going to be a day where the forwards would dictate the outcome.
Indeed after just six minutes it was Rotherham number 8 Callum Bustin who got the scoreboard ticking over when he dotted down from a maul close to the line. Unsurprisingly Lloyd Hayes’ conversion from out wide was blown off course.
Preston however hit back within five minutes when lock forward Ellis Causey, dual-registered with Sale Sharks, charged down a clearing kick and neatly controlled before diving over to score a converted try. Unfortunately the tall second rower injured himself on landing and he played no further part in the game.
Despite Rotherham have much the better of things there would be only one more score in the first half. This came in the 25th minute when skipper Zak Poole crashed over following some powerful work from the Titans pack.
Rotherham would have gone in at half time frustrated with themselves after a number of errors led to lots of missed opportunities.
However, a more clinical Roth emerged for the second period as they went through the gears in search of the win and a bonus point.
Within 10 minutes of the restart Titans had their third try when Zak Poole fed loose head prop Charlie Capps who in turn charged in from 10 metres to power over next to the posts.
Before the hour mark the win and bonus point was secured when powerful back rower John Okafor dotted down following further good work from the Rotherham pack.
Two tries inside the final ten minutes added the cherries on top when firstly hooker Jack Bergmanas dotted down from a catch and drive and in the final play back rower Rupert Kay showed great tenacity to score following a brilliant 50 metre break from Lloyd Hayes.
All in all Rotherham will have been delighted to have secured a bonus point win in terrible conditions against a tricky side that beat them last season.
Titans will now focus on a huge Yorkshire derby on Saturday when high-flyers Wharfedale come to Clifton Lane for the last game before Christmas.
Speaking after the match Titans Gaz Lewis reflected:
“We spoke about delivering a professional performance in difficult conditions; it needed to be that when you come to places like this. We stuck to the task in hand and although we didn’t quite deliver that in the first half, we did in the second half with the way we imposed ourselves with a great effort from the lads.
“I think it’s a measure of how far we have come in a short space of time, the lads have the ability to problem solve and that’s a sign of the maturity in the team.
“To be fair to Preston they didn’t go away and they stuck to their task the whole game, but we played to our strengths in very difficult conditions and we are pleased to come away with the five points.
“We’ll now switch out thoughts to Wharfedale next week. I think everyone knows Wharfedale are a physical team; they are going to be abrasive and in your face and it will be very competitive.
“Training has been outstanding for us; we are working hard on our conditioning and physicality and it should be a real tough battle. Hopefully we can get a big crowd and create a good atmosphere at Clifton Lane.”
Referee: Dave Charlton
Attendance: 306
Yellow Card: Cowen-Leak (Titans), Williams (Preston)
Titans: Bustin (T), Poole (T), Capps (T), Okafor (T), Bergmanas (T), Kay (T), Hayes (2C)
Preston Grasshoppers: Causey (T), Hunt (1C)
Titans: 15 Jack Townend, 14 Dan Rundle, 13 Lloyd Hayes, 12 Harry Dunne, 11 Jack Taylor, 10 Will Milner (JB Bruzulier 77), 9 JB Bruzulier (Metcalfe 56), 1 Charlie Capps (Denman 70), 2 Luke Cole (Bergmanas 45), 3 Gareth Denman (Kivalu 45), 4 Matt Challinor (Kay 66), 5 Matt Smith, 19 John Okafor, 7 Zak Poole (Capt.), 8 Callum Bustin (Cowen-Leak 47).
Replacements: 16 Jack Bergmanas, 17 Loma Kivalu, 18 Laurence Cowen-Leak, 27 Rupert Kay, 20 Will Metcalfe.
Preston Grasshoppers: 15 Jacob Browne (Capt.) (Haigh 76), 14 Ben Haigh (Parkinson 45), 13 Jack Lightowler, 12 Ed Keohane, 11 Tyler Spence, 10 Will Hunt, 9 Rory Brand (Povall 76), 25 Jake Pope, 2 Harry Holden (Williams 73), 3 Wade Williams (Haigh 55) (Gosling 71), 4 Ellis Causey (Naylor 12), 5 Ally Murray, 6 Will Riley, 7 Ben Dorrington (Wilkinson 67), 8 Josh Longson.
Replacements: 16 Cameron Wilkinson, 17 Will Parkinson, 24 Ewan Naylor, 19 Izaak Gosling, 20 Niall Povall.
