Rotherham Titans anticipate a fiery encounter when they take on Sheffield Tigers in a rearranged game in National 2 North on Saturday; kick-off at Clifton Lane is 2pm.
The game was originally penned in for early December, but due to a frozen pitch at Clifton Lane we now have a South Yorkshire post-Christmas cracker in early January.
Both sides will be fresh following the Christmas break and both will be keen to grab the bragging rights in this eagerly anticipated derby.
Both sides are enjoying a successful season too, with Tigers currently sitting seventh 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 Tigers 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 five changes to the starting XV that beat Wharfedale last time out, four of which come in the forwards.
In the front row Luke Cole comes in at hooker for Jack Bergmanas with Reece Ward coming in at tight head prop for Gareth Denman, whilst in a reshuffled back row John Okafor comes in for Callum Bustin and Harry Newborn who has returned to the club recently comes in for Rupert Kay at openside.
The one change in the backs sees Tomasi Tanumi come in for Dan Rundle.
Speaking ahead of the game Titans Harvey Biljon said:
“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 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 and Preston.
“I think that’s one of the most impressive things since being at Rotherham that’s coming across to me and I think 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 Tainne Finn, 13 Lloyd Hayes, 12 Harry Dunne, 11 Tomasi Tanumi, 10 Will Milner, 9 JB Bruzulier, 1 Charlie Capps, 2 Luke Cole, 30 Reece Ward, 4 Matt Challinor, 5 Matt Smith, 19 John Okafor, 7 Harry Newborn, 8 Zak Poole (Capt.).
Replacements: 16 Jack Bergmanas, 17 Gareth Denman, 18 Laurence Cowen-Leak, 6 Rupert Kay, 20 Will Metcalfe.
