Titans Prepare for Tough Test Against Cornish Pirates

Rotherham Titans return to Champ Rugby action on Sunday afternoon when they welcome Cornish Pirates to Clifton Lane for what promises to be a closely fought encounter between two sides with plenty to play for.

The game kicks off at 4pm and will be broadcast live on Blaze TV.

Following a reserve weekend, both squads should be refreshed and eager to get back into the thick of the Champ campaign, with Rotherham looking to build on an impressive away victory in their last outing.

Titans travelled to the Athletic Ground to face Richmond last time out and returned to South Yorkshire with a hard-fought but thoroughly deserved 29-14 win.

The five-tries-to-two success was Rotherham’s first bonus-point victory of the season and represented another encouraging step forward following their promotion to the second tier of English rugby.

Although Titans controlled much of the contest, it was a purple patch just before half-time that ultimately proved decisive. Two quick-fire tries from John Okafor and Ben Cambriani gave the visitors a commanding advantage and provided the platform for an impressive victory.

Richmond battled gamely after the interval in an attempt to force their way back into the contest, but Rotherham remained composed and maintained control to secure a valuable five points on the road.

Having negotiated that challenge successfully, however, Titans now face another stern examination as the Cornish Pirates make the long journey from Penzance to Clifton Lane.

The Pirates have been one of the Champ’s leading sides for more than 20 years and continue to be a formidable presence at this level. Their pedigree was underlined by a recent victory over Ealing Trailfinders, while further wins against established contenders Doncaster Knights and Chinnor this season have demonstrated the quality within their ranks.

Those results provide a clear indication of the challenge awaiting Rotherham on Sunday, with the visitors arriving in South Yorkshire with the confidence that comes from competing successfully against some of the division’s strongest teams.

Titans will need to reproduce the discipline, defensive resilience and attacking intent displayed against Richmond if they are to add another significant result to their growing collection.

There is also plenty of history between the clubs, with the rivalry dating back to 2004. The sides have met on 32 occasions, producing a competitive record that highlights just how evenly matched they have been over the years.

Cornish Pirates hold an advantage in the overall league head-to-head, having won 18 of the meetings compared with Rotherham’s 13, while the remaining encounter ended in a draw.

The figures make better reading for Titans at Clifton Lane, where the home side holds a slender 9-7 advantage.

With both teams benefiting from a weekend away from competitive action, there should be little to separate them in terms of preparation. Add in the history between the clubs, the Pirates’ impressive form and the prospect of a sizeable audience watching on Blaze TV, all the ingredients are in place for an entertaining afternoon.

Rotherham will be determined to make home advantage count, but they know they will need another accomplished performance to overcome a Pirates side with a proven record at this level.

Everything points towards a tight contest at Clifton Lane, with the outcome likely to be decided by the smallest of margins.

Going into the game Titans have made two changes from last week’s starting XV, both of which come in the pack.

An unchanged front row sees Zac Nearchou at loose head prop, with Morgan Veness at hooker, and Corrie Barrett at tight head.

Frankie Gascoigne maintains his spot in the second row, and he’ll be joined there by Curran Maguire.

Maguire’s inclusion sees John Okafor move into the back row at blindside for Ellis Thomas with Travis Gordon captaining the side from the open side, and Callum Bustin comes in at number 8 for Lekima Ravuvu.

There are no changes across the backline, so scrum half JB Bruzulier and fly half Russell Bennett link-up again.

In midfield Ali Mgijima partners up in the centres with Lloyd Hayes.

The same back three sees Ben Cambriani and Jackson Barling on the wings, with Isaac Shaw at Full Back.

Speaking ahead of the match Harvey Biljon said:

It’s always good to see out a block of games with a win; Richmond is a difficult place to go and get a result; I’ve seen that in my time here; we lost in the final play of the game down there a couple of seasons ago.

So, to come away with a bonus point, which was not expected, is a good feeling for the whole squad and coaching team. But it was a tough game, they were a difficult side to get reward from, and they kept going right up until the end as you would expect.

I must mention a couple of players who really stepped up because we had some adversity on the day. We had Zach Toerien dropping in at the last minute and he did well when he came on and then Frankie Gascoigne - whose been out for months - got pulled in on the morning to go straight into the team and he did well too.

However, following the end of the opening five-week block of games I’m very happy with the hard work the players have put in and the way the player support team has got behind the squad.

This week will be even tougher, I know Cornish Pirates well having coached there. We had some success when I was there, we won the British & Irish Cup, and we were in two Premiership play-off finals against Worcester and London Welsh.

Cornish Pirates are a full-time team, and we know any team leaving Cornwall is always going to be tough and they’ll have an edge about them. They are coached by Gavin Cattle and Alan Paver, and they’ll make sure that’s the case.

I was coach at Pirates when Gavin and Alan were players there and you always want them to do well, that goes without saying. Before the game, we’ll enjoy each other’s company and after the game, we’ll definitely have a beer together, but the 80 minutes in-between is probably a little bit different, and it will be exciting to take them on at Clifton Lane again.

Pirates are a good club, and it sounds as though there’s a fair bit going on down there and a real ambition of where they want to take the club. They are going well at the moment, they picked up a huge result by beating Ealing, and no one expects Ealing to lose a game and that just highlights the quality and aptitude of the group that’s coming here.

We needed the week off and we’ve regrouped this week to see who’s fit. We’ve enjoyed our training and we have prepared well, as we always do, but we know this is probably going to be one of the toughest set-piece challenges we’ve faced this season.

It will be exciting to be on Blaze TV this weekend and it’ll be interesting to see how Sunday’s work for us, hopefully everyone will have had their Sunday lunch and get up here for what I believe will be one helluva match!

Titans: 15 Isaac Shaw, 14 Jackson Barling, 13 Lloyd Hayes, 12 Ali Mgijima, 11 Ben Cambriani, 10 Russell Bennett, 9 JB Bruzulier, 1 Zac Nearchou, 2 Morgan Veness, 3 Corrie Barrett, 4 Curran Maguire, 5 Frankie Gascoigne, 6 John Okafor, 7 Travis Gordon (Capt.), 8 Callum Bustin.

Replacements: 16 Dewald Kotze, 17 Zach Toerien, 18 Tom Bairstow, 19 Louis Guthrie, 20 Harry Stone, 21 Lekima Ravuvu, 22 Cameron Nordli-Kelemeti, 23 Mitchell Lacey-Babalola.

Cash only on the gate £20 members - £25 non-members

Cards accepted at the bar.