Rotherham Titans are all set for their final home game of the season and ready for the challenge that visitor’s Preston Grasshoppers will bring on Saturday; kick-off at Clifton Lane is 2pm.
Titans’ last outing was a real humdinger as they toppled the league leaders Leeds in a 9-try thriller at Clifton Lane.
Titans took the lead inside 10 minutes and although it was a lead they would never relinquish, the game swayed one way and then another throughout.
Indeed late on Leeds drew to within a point of Rotherham, before John Okafor ran in from halfway to seal the deal and send the bumper crowd into raptures.
Following that game Titans have had a two week break - last week’s being unforeseen as the game at Sheffield Tigers was postponed due to a waterlogged pitch – and so they are fresh and ready to go.
A win for Rotherham would see them remain unbeaten at Clifton Lane for the whole season and that’s an achievement they could be proud of, as they look make their home a fortress once again.
However, the task in hand won’t be a straightforward one, as a closer look at Grasshoppers recent form shows they are a side on the up.
In their last four outings Preston have won three and have scored an impressive 25 tries along the way. Indeed their only defeat came away to 4th placed side Wharfedale and there’s no disgrace in that.
So Rotherham will be fully switched on to the dangers as they were in the reverse fixture at Lightfoot Green Lane earlier in the season where they ran out worthy 34-7 winners.
The teams have faced each other on five previous occasions, with the overall head-to-head standing at 3-2 to Rotherham.
Going into the game Titans have made just one change to the starting XV that beat Leeds, with Harry Newborn coming into the back row for John Okafor who moves into the second row for the injured Matt Smith.
Speaking ahead to the match Titans Gaz Lewis said:
“Looking back on the Leeds game I thought it was an amazing day from start to finish. I was talking to some of our supporters after the match and they said it was like taking a trip down memory lane with all the drama and emotion and that was really nice to hear.
“The game ebbed and flowed as predicted and the wind element made it even more challenging. We made an excellent start, they came back at us and then we had a grandstand finish. The noise when big John crossed the line at the end was amazing. It was a fantastic day and a great occasion for the club; hopefully we can have many more of them in the future.
“With us not playing last week due to the weather at Tigers, it has given us a little bit more time to reflect and to think about what we need to do as a team and to make sure we apply ourselves against Preston who are safe. They’ll come and probably play a bit Gung Ho, have a crack and have an enjoyable afternoon; it’s always a dangerous prospect when you’re up against that.
“Preston are on a good run of form having won 3 of their last 4 games, they have a very free-flowing style which has seen them score 25 tries in those 4 games and clearly they are a threat in terms of their attack.
“They have Will Hunt at fly half who is a good running 10 that manages the game well and he’ll definitely be one to watch. They have an attacking philosophy which means they can score tries in clusters and that makes them dangerous.
“For us however we’ll just focus on what we want to try and achieve and that will start with our set piece.
“Our line out was outstanding against Leeds and that will be important again as will our scrum which has gone well all year. If we get those areas right we can launch our attacks on the back of those and that should in turn allow us to put in another good performance.”
Titans: 15 Jack Townend, 14 Tomasi Tanumi, 13 Lloyd Hayes, 12 Harry Dunne, 11 Jack Taylor, 10 Will Milner, 9 JB Bruzulier, 1 Charlie Capps, 2 Jack Bergmanas, 3 Gareth Denman, 4 Zak Poole (Capt.), 19 John Okafor, 25 Harry Newborn, 7 Laurence Cowen-Leak, 8 Callum Bustin.
Replacements: 16 Luke Cole, 17 Loma Kivalu, 26 Rupert Kay, 20 Cuchulain Livingstone, 22 Will Metcalfe.
