Rotherham Titans put in an excellent first-game performance to run out 40 -7 winners over a lively Leeds outfit under the lights at Clifton Lane.
The South Yorkshire side outscored their opponents by 6 tries to 1 with scores coming from Cuchulain Livingstone, Jamie Cooke, JB Bruzulier, Ronnie Du Randt, Zak Poole and Travis Gideon, with Lloyd Hayes adding four points from the tee and Rob Povey six.
In a fairly tight first half it was Leeds who started the brighter as they showed good energy and enthusiasm. This ensured Rotherham had to graft hard to keep them out; but this they did and in turn the hosts grew in confidence.
Just before the 20-minute mark Rotherham were reward for their endeavours when winger Cuchulain Livingstone finished off in the corner.
Ten minutes later Jamie Cooke on the other wing raised a boisterous cheer from the Rotherham faithful when he went over to double the Titans advantage. It was a sweet moment for him in his first game back after a 2 year absence through injury.
Leeds showed how dangerous they could be when Rotherham briefly switched-off and scrum half Ewan Laughton raced through to score under the posts.
The second half saw Rotherham control more of the game and to be fair they dominated much of what went on.
JB Bruzulier showed good awareness to add a third try and Ronnie Du Randt showed good pace and footwork for the fourth.
Titans Captain fantastic continued his great try-scoring record as he bulldozed his way over for the fifth and livewire Travis Gideon deserved his dot down at the end for his contribution.
Speaking afterwards Titans Harvey Biljon reflected:
“I was really impressed with the hard work that the players have put into the pre-season. I think they’ve had a different pre-season in that they haven’t had the traditional conditioning block. We’ve had a rugby ball in hand from day one and I think that showed tonight.
“What excites me is we saw a big group of young men create opportunity , but not be able to capitalise when we were always in their third and that means there is lots of growth still to come, but we have to make those mistakes to make sure as we grow as a team over the next 18 months we get better and better.
“If you had offered me that scoreline before the game I would have taken that because I was speaking with Peter (Leeds DOR) before the game and he told me they were fielding a strong side. We know how tight it was between the sides last season, so we’ve obviously making small steps in the right direction.”
Titans: 15 Ronnie Du Randt, 14 Cuchulain Livingstone, 13 Lloyd Hayes, 12 Tomasi Tanumi, 11 Jamie Cooke, 10 Corben Ollivent, 9 JB Bruzulier, 1 Zach Toerien, 2 Luke Cole, 3 Rikki Stout, 4 Curran Maguire, 5 Harry Gilson-Fox, 6 Travis Gordon, 7 Ben Copley, 8 Zak Poole (Capt.).
Replacements: Charlie Capps, Jack Bergmanas, Andrew Foster, John Okafor, Lewis Allan, Callum Bustin, James Naylor, Charlie Metcalf, Rob Povey, Tainne Finn, Joe Mounsey, Travis Gideon, Jack Townend.
Referee: Ben Rayner
Assistant Referees: Jason Garrick & Matt Daubney
Photo Credit: Gareth Siddons