Rotherham Titans expect to be tested to the max on Saturday when they host league leaders Sedgley Park in Nat 2 North; kick-off at Clifton Lane is 2pm.
Following an excellent performance last week which saw the Titans run out 52-25 winners over third placed Hull Ionians, they face an even tougher task this week as Sedgley will arrive on the back of 17 straight wins and unbeaten in the league.
Under the guidance of Director of Rugby, Scott Barrow, he and his team have produced some outstanding results this year and Sedgley are now firm favourites to be plying their trade in National One next term.
However, boosted by an outstanding performance last week, Rotherham’s confidence should have been given a boost and they will look to build on that and at least make Sedgley work hard for any rewards they get.
When the teams met earlier in the season it was the North West side who ran out 25-17 winners and results for Park since then would suggest they have gone on to improve significantly.
Going into the game Roth have made just one change to their 20-man squad; Joe Carlisle has been brought in ahead of Friday’s transfer deadline from Hull RUFC and he comes in on the bench for George Tucker.
Speaking ahead of the game Titans head coach, Gary Pearce said:
“We took a lot of pride from the result we had against Ionians; the effort, commitment and skill on show was good. To beat a side that are third in the league who haven’t lost too many games all season, and to beat them as convincingly as we did was an outstanding effort from the lads.
“The lads showed what they are about and I don’t think we had a bad performance across the park; everybody contributed to the win and that was very pleasing for everyone connected with the club.
“So hopefully a result like that should give us a bit of confidence going forwards and give the lads a bit of belief that they are good players and a good side when they are all at it.
“That’s the level we’ll need to be at again on Saturday because Sedgley Park are obviously a very good side being top of the league and we will give them massive respect.
“They’ve gone 17 games unbeaten and that’s a fantastic achievement, but they still won’t fancy coming to Clifton Lane. They’ll know what’s in store, but equally they’ll be ready for that as well, because they know they have to be when they come here and even more so after last week’s result.
“These are the games that you want to be involved in; I always loved playing in the big games and I’m sure our lads are just the same. We know we have to perform otherwise we’ll get beaten and so there’s no excuses.
“We have to try and make our home a fortress and go back to the good old days when teams didn’t want to come to Rotherham and that’s our intention, to make Clifton Lane a fortress again.
“Whether we win or lose it’s the effort we’re after; I’m sure our lads will rock-up and give it their best and as a coach that’s all you can ask of the players. If we can do that and replicate what we did last week then we’ll give ourselves a great opportunity.”
Titans: 15 Sam Veall, 14 Jack Taylor, 13 Tomasi Tanumi, 12 Callum Bustin, 11 Luckas Sableman-Blue, 10 Lloyd Hayes, 9 Connor Dever, 1 Charlie Capps, 2 Jack Bergmanas, 3 Gareth Denman, 4 Matt Challinor, 5 Theo Nwosu-Hope, 6 Marcus Payne, 7 Rupert Kay, 8 Zak Poole (Capt.).
Replacements: 16 Tom Richardson, 17 Danny Rylance, 18 Lewis Allan, 19 Joe Carlisle, 20 Sam Boxhall.
