Rotherham Titans face another tricky away challenge on Saturday when they travel to a much-improved Huddersfield side in a rearranged National 2 North game; kick-off at Lockwood Park is 2pm.
Last time out Rotherham were made to work hard on a heavy pitch against a good Otley outfit, before eventually securing a bonus-point win late in the game.
The important win was Titans eighth on the spin and eighteenth of the season which keeps them in the thick of it at the top end of the division.
The original fixture against Huddersfield was slated for January, but had to be postponed due to a frozen pitch.
However, with the recent wet weather in the area, the pitch is likely to be another heavy one for both sides.
Whatever the surface Rotherham know they are in for a tough test against a side that has picked-up in form of late.
In their last two games Huddersfield has been beaten away at Sheffield Tigers by 2 points and last week by the same margin against Fylde.
The Fylde defeat was a difficult one to take as with 15 minutes remaining Huddersfield were leading 32-17, before a late fightback denied them a crucial win.
Indeed, Rotherham will be acutely aware of the Huddersfield threat having lost on their two previous visits to Lockwood Park.
Furthermore, Rotherham has never beaten Huddersfield away and last season’s defeat saw Titans return home without a point as they got on the wrong end of a 39-27 score; all of which suggests Titans will give them their full respect.
The league head-to-head between the sides stands at 3 wins each.
Going into this week’s match Rotherham have made just two changes to the starting XV that beat Otley.
In the pack Reece Ward comes in at tight head prop for Gareth Denman; whilst in the backline Jack Taylor comes in on the wing for Tomasi Tanumi.
Looking ahead to the game Titans Gaz Lewis said:
“We were happy with the outcome against Otley last week where we scored five tries, it was a great achievement from the lads and I thought they stuck to the task well.
“To be fair the scoreline didn’t reflect how close the match was, but we’ll take the five points and move on to Huddersfield.
“Huddersfield holds some fond memories for me; I had a really great time there and we managed to compete against some of the best teams in the league over a number of years and I still have lots of friends there.
“But those memories and friendships will be put to one side on Saturday afternoon because I’ve got a job to do as a proud coach of Rotherham Titans.
“That job won’t be an easy one as they’ve had an upturn in form following a recent change in the coaching set-up and although they’ve not managed to get that win, they are now scoring points and in their last two games against Sheffield Tigers and Fylde, they’ve only lost by 2 points.
“So, we need to make sure we don’t underestimate the task at Lockwood Park, because Rotherham’s last two trips there have been unsuccessful ones.
“We’ll need to match their enthusiasm and then back our game and our structures in order to put in a performance to get the right result on Saturday.”
Titans: 15 Jack Townend, 14 Jack Taylor, 13 Lloyd Hayes, 12 Harry Dunne, 11 Cuchulain Livingstone, 10 Will Milner, 9 JB Bruzulier, 1 Charlie Capps (Capt.), 2 Jack Bergmanas, 3 Reece Ward, 4 John Okafor, 5 Lewis Allan, 6 Laurence Cowen-Leak, 7 Harry Newborn, 8 Callum Bustin.
Replacements: 16 Rupert Kay, 17 Loma Kivalu, 18 Gareth Denman, 19 Marcus Payne, 20 Will Metcalfe.
