Rotherham Titans face a tricky test this weekend when they take on Hull in round 22 of National 2 North; kick-off at the Ferens Ground is 2pm.
Hull is traditionally one of the toughest teams to take on in N2N as they provide a stern physical challenge and if a team is to have any success against them this challenge has to be met.
The East Riding outfit suffered relegation from National 1 last term, but they’ve managed to retain a good number of experienced players, making them a serious threat on their day.
Surprisingly they’ve had an inconsistent season in terms of results by their high standards, but they’ve also had notable wins over Sheffield Tigers and city rivals Hull Ionians.
Rotherham has showed they are capable of taking on good sides too and are currently in fine form having gone unbeaten in their last 10 games.
Last week Titans impressed with a controlled performance against Hull Ionians which saw them run out 42-17 winners and which also saw them pick-up the bonus point for the tenth consecutive game.
In the reverse fixture against Hull back in November at Clifton Lane Rotherham grabbed a 28-9 win, but they weren’t able to secure a bonus point having scored 3 tries.
Overall the teams have met on 3 previous occasions with the South Yorkshire side coming out on top in 2 of them.
Going into this week’s match Rotherham have made three changes to the starting XV that beat Ionians, two of which come in the forwards.
In the front row Gareth Denman comes in at tighthead prop for Reece Ward; whilst in the second row Matt Smith returns from injury, moving John Okafor into the back row for Rupert Kay.
The one change across the backline sees Jack Taylor come in on the wing as Tomasi Tanumi moves into the centres for the injured Lloyd Hayes.
Titans: 15 Jack Townend, 14 Jack Taylor, 13 Tomasi Tanumi, 12 Harry Dunne, 11 Cuchulain Livingstone, 10 Will Milner, 9 JB Bruzulier, 1 Charlie Capps, 2 Jack Bergmanas, 3 Gareth Denman, 4 Zak Poole (Capt.), 5 Matt Smith, 6 John Okafor, 7 Laurence Cowen-Leak, 8 Callum Bustin.
Replacements: 16 Rupert Kay, 17 Loma Kivalu, 18 Reece Ward, 19 Marcus Payne, 20 Will Metcalfe.
