Team News: Titans v Sedgley Park

Round 22 of National 1 sees Rotherham Titans host North West side Sedgley Park at Clifton Lane; kick off on Saturday is 2pm.

NOTE: Cash only on the gate £12 members - £15 non-members - please have the right money. Cards accepted at the bar.

Rotherham will go into the game on the back of a tough encounter against Plymouth Albion, where unfortunately for them, they came up just short in a 23-20 defeat at Brickfields Stadium.

Despite the defeat under trying circumstances Rotherham still had an opportunity to win the game at the death, but credit to Plymouth their defence stood firm as they held out for an important win.

Nevertheless, Rotherham remain in contention in second spot just 5 points behind leaders Richmond and with all to play for as the season goes into the final 5 rounds.

However, the tough games keep on coming and this week Rotherham once again take on a form side in the division.

Sedgley Park has shown all season how they can take on and beat the best sides in the league; their 28-0 win over Rosslyn Park and 41-26 win over Plymouth Albion demonstrate that.

However, their recent form has been impressive too; last time out they beat Rams at Park Lane and before that they went to Blackheath and also came away with the win.

Furthermore, in the reverse fixture earlier in the season Titans saw first hand how difficult Sedgley can be as the South Yorkshire side narrowly edged a tight encounter 35-30.

Both sides scored 4 tries that day, with Rotherham’s dot downs coming from Rob Povey, Jack Bergmanas, Zak Poole and Luke Cole, with Lloyd Hayes adding 15 points from the tee. So, they’ll be no underestimating the task ahead this weekend.

Going into the game Rotherham have made five changes to their starting XV.

In the front row hooker Morgan Veness is flanked by props Charlie Capps who comes in for Zach Toerien at loosehead and Andrew Foster who comes in for Eoin Harrison at tighthead.

The second row sees John Okafor come in for the suspended Zak Poole and he’ll partner Harry Gilson-Fox.

The back row also stays the same with Travis Gordon on the blindside, Harry Newborn on the openside and Callum Bustin at number 8.

Across the backline is the same consistency in the half backs as scrum half JB Bruzulier accompanies fly half Rob Povey.

The midfield remains the same too as Lloyd Hayes and Jamie Cooke will link up again.

The back three sees Ronnie Du Randt move from the wing to full back for Jack Townend, with Luckas Sableman-Blue on one wing and Calum Barrett on the other.

Looking ahead to the match Harvey Biljon said:

“What stood out for me after the Plymouth game was the amount of resilience the team showed. To absorb and sustain that much pressure from Plymouth in the opening 20 minutes was outstanding; it showed immense effort and determination defensively to hold them out.

“I felt that our strategy and the commitment from the players was on point; I felt at half time with the elements probably favouring us, we just missed out on a couple of bits of execution and the element of not having your captain on the field. So, the most important thing is to accept where our discipline was, acknowledge it and then to make sure we action something to put it right.

“On the flip side of that we’ve gone away from home and come back with a point from Plymouth and probably the most frustrating thing is we missed a big opportunity to get a result there.

“It doesn’t stop though, as we now come up against another team that’s in-form.

“We saw from our game against Sedgley Park earlier in the season they are a team that can score tries from deep in their own half. So, they’re clearly a team that’s got threats and you can’t call them against the run of play because they earnt those scores from deep. They’re a team that doesn’t stop playing and on that particular day they were able to take two bonus points with a late try, and that shows into the 80th minute onwards they were still pushing.

“But we have learnt from that and there are a couple of areas where we could impose ourselves a little bit more and show a little bit more control, but it’s another week in which from a defensive standpoint we’re going to have to be on-point, especially with their threats out wide.

“I think the team that plays today will look different to the one which played against Sedgley in the first game. That’s the nature of the beast what with injuries and performance changes, but all teams improve as the season goes on.

“I think we’ve definitely made strides in the right direction, but it’s going to be interesting to see how the players respond to coming off a loss.

“But what gives me confidence is I’ve seen how our players have responded in the past. I saw how they responded after Bishop’s Stortford, and I saw how they responded after Richmond and Sale FC. I don’t feel a loss in any way will influence the way we prepare and how we go into the game.”

Titans: 15 Ronnie Du Randt, 14 Luckas Sableman-Blue, 13 Lloyd Hayes, 12 Jamie Cooke, 11 Calum Barrett, 10 Rob Povey, 9 JB Bruzulier, 1 Charlie Capps ©, 2 Morgan Veness, 3 Andrew Foster, 4 John Okafor, 5 Harry Gilson-Fox, 6 Travis Gordon ©, 7 Harry Newborn, 8 Callum Bustin.

Replacements: 16 Curran Maguire 17 Zach Toerien, 18 Eoin Harrison, 19 Jack Townend, 20 James Naylor.