Round fourteen of National 1 sees Rotherham Titans take on Darlington Mowden Park in the Christmas fixture at Clifton Lane; kick-off on Saturday is 2pm.
The game will be Titans final one of the year with the South Yorkshire side hoping they can celebrate a win at the post-match Christmas party.
Titans will go into the game on the back of a heartbreaking last-play-of-the-game defeat to league leaders Richmond, where an 88th minute try from Chidera Obonna denied them what would have been an outstanding bonus point win in the capital.
Nevertheless, Rotherham’s performance would have reinforced belief that they can compete against the very best in the division and whatever the outcome against Mowden Park, when they sit down for their Christmas Dinner, they are guaranteed to be third in the table and not too many people would have predicted that at the beginning of September.
However, a resurgent Darlington side, headed up by former Titans favourite Garry Law, will not be in any mood to give away any early Christmas presents.
Last time out Mowden impressed with a 37-37 draw against Sedgley Park and scored 4 tries along the way meaning they collected 3 points for their efforts.
The sides have previously met on 5 occasions, all of which took place in National 1, with the North East side holding a narrow 3-2 advantage. Rotherham did however win the reverse fixture in week two 45-28 at the Darlington Arena.
Going into this week’s game Rotherham have made six changes to their starting XV.
In the front row hooker Luke Cole comes in for Jack Bergmanas and he is flanked by props Charlie Capps at loosehead and Andrew Foster at tighthead who comes in for Alastair Donkor.
The second row sees Curran Maguire lining up alongside Harry Gilson-Fox; he comes in as Zak Poole moves into the back row for the injured Callum Bustin. Poole is joined by John Okafor on the blindside and Travis Gordon on the openside who comes in for Ellis Thomas.
Across the backline scrum half JB Bruzulier is accompanied in the half back positions by Rob Povey who moves from full back as he replaces the injured Corben Ollivent, with Lloyd Hayes and Jamie Cooke maintaining their partnership in midfield.
The back three sees Jack Townend return at full back, with Tomasi Tanumi coming in on the wing for the injured Aidan Shortall and Ronnie Du Randt on the other wing.
Looking ahead to the game Titans Harvey Biljon said:
“Richmond was a hell of a game for our team to be part of; I know we didn’t come away with the result, but it should probably give us even more belief that we can compete in this league.
“It was nice to hear when I was listening to some of the players around the dressing room after the game, how they felt they’d missed an opportunity and how they felt they could have handled some of the situations better. That is a great place to be because then hopefully if we get into those same pressure moments again, we will be better for it as we go forward in the season.
“We know this game against Darlington Mowden Park is going to be another challenge for us and they need this to be a turning point in their season. They’ve clearly turned a corner; they went and drew with Sedgley Park last time and Sedgley had just beaten Rosslyn Park 28-0 the previous week. So, DMP will have that little bit of confidence in their group that they can turn things around and they’ll be wanting an early Christmas present.
“For us however, as much as we will respect the opposition and we’ll do our homework, this game has got to be about us. We are at home in front of our supporters, and we will continue to strive for the right performance and if we do that the result will take care of itself.”
Titans: 15 Jack Townend, 14 Tomasi Tanumi, 13 Lloyd Hayes, 12 Jamie Cooke, 11 Ronnie Du Randt, 10 Rob Povey, 9 JB Bruzulier, 1 Charlie Capps ©, 2 Luke Cole, 3 Andrew Foster, 4 Harry Gilson-Fox, 5 Curran Maguire, 6 John Okafor, 7 Travis Gordon, 8 Zak Poole ©.
Replacements: 16 Jack Bergmanas, 17 Zach Toerien, 18 Rikki Stout, 19 Callum Russell, 20 James Naylor.
NOTE: Cash only on the gate £12 members - £15 non-members - try to have the right money please. Cards accepted at the bar.
