This Saturday in round nine of National League 1 Rotherham Titans face a tricky test against old foes Plymouth Albion, when the South West side visit Clifton Lane for a 2pm kick-off.
Last week was a reserve weekend on the fixture calendar, so all things being equal the players will be well rested and ready to get back into the thick of it.
The previous week saw Rotherham impress with an excellent 30-19 win against a rugged Birmingham Moseley side at Billesley Common and although no bonus point was collected, the result and performance was outstanding.
Titans will need to be in that kind of form again against another very good side in Plymouth Albion, as the Devon based side are in fine form too, having won 4 of their last 6 games.
Albion have racked up good wins over Leicester Lions, Bishop’s Stortford, Birmingham Moseley and Blackheath and indeed in their last outing against high-fliers and league leaders Rams, were only narrowly beaten by 21-16. That result should testify to the strength and quality of the Albion squad.
Though Rotherham haven’t played Plymouth since the 2019/20 season, they are long-term rivals having met on 34 occasions, most of which took place when both sides were competing in the Championship, with the overall head-to-head standing at 18-15 in Titans favour, with one draw.
However recent form between the sides has seen Albion come out on top, having won 4 of the last 5 clashes!
Going into this week’s game Roth have made just one change to their starting XV.
The pack remains the same with a front row that sees Luke Cole at hooker and he’s joined by props Charlie Capps at loosehead and Rikki Stout at tighthead.
The second row sees Curran Maguire lining up alongside Zak Poole, with a back row of Ellis Thomas at blindside, Harry Newborn on the openside and Callum Bustin at number 8.
Across the backline the sole change comes at scrum half where JB Bruzulier is given the nod over James Naylor and he will accompany Rob Povey in the half back positions.
Lloyd Hayes and Jamie Cooke maintain their partnership in midfield, as do a back three of Ronnie Du Randt and Aidan Shortall on the wings, with Jack Townend at full back.
Commenting ahead of the game Titans Assistant Coach, Matt Smith said:
“We were delighted to come away from Birmingham Moseley with the win. Before the season started we all knew that Moseley away is one of the toughest fixtures on the calendar and going there on the back of a loss against Bishop’s Stortford meant it became even bigger.
“I was really proud in how the boys approached the game; it was a really tough contest that turned into an arm wrestle throughout and I’m glad we found a way to get the result.
“Moseley had some big lads in their squad, as did we, and when two large objects come together it causes big collisions and that’s what we saw.
“Since that game the boys have had a little bit of time off; they’ve worked really hard for the last 11 weeks and the workload and intensity has been relentless and it does take its toll. Hopefully the lads will feel refreshed and full of energy as we go into the Plymouth game.
“It will be important that we go into the game with lots of energy because you know every time you play Plymouth, you know exactly what you’re going to get. They have some big forwards who are going to take it to you and they are very physical.
“As with all games it starts up front and getting a hold on the set piece will be vital. If you can win that contest then you can control the tempo and territory and then hopefully when we get in the right areas we can go to work and score some tries.
“Albion are not just a one trick pony though; on the back of their big pack they do have threats across the backline. If you give them a sniff they are more than capable of punishing you with the pace they have out wide and so we’ll have to make sure we stay focussed for the full 80-minutes and beyond.”
Titans: 15 Jack Townend, 14 Aidan Shortall, 13 Lloyd Hayes, 12 Jamie Cooke, 11 Ronnie Du Randt, 10 Rob Povey, 9 JB Bruzulier, 1 Charlie Capps ©, 2 Luke Cole, 3 Rikki Stout, 4 Zak Poole ©, 5 Curran Maguire, 6 Ellis Thomas, 7 Harry Newborn, 8 Callum Bustin.
Replacements: 16 Jack Bergmanas, 17 Loma Kivalu, 18 Andrew Foster, 19 Harry Gilson-Fox, 20 James Naylor.
