Titans Set Sights on Hartpury After Dramatic Nottingham Victory

Rotherham Titans return to Clifton Lane on Saturday afternoon looking to build on their dramatic victory over Nottingham last weekend when they welcome Gloucestershire-based Hartpury RFC in the latest round of Elior Champ Rugby.

The game kicks off at 3pm, with Titans arriving in confident mood following a thrilling 28-24 success against the Archers under the Friday night lights at Lady Bay.

It was a victory that demonstrated both the character and resilience within the Rotherham squad.

Trailing 24-14 with just 12 minutes remaining against a fired-up Nottingham side, Titans produced a superb late fightback to snatch the points.

Scrum-half JB Bruzulier got the comeback underway with a crucial score before hooker Morgan Veness crossed from a powerful Titans drive to complete the turnaround and send the travelling supporters into celebration mode.

There was still work to do, however, as the home side threw everything at Rotherham during the closing stages. Titans defended magnificently under some strong late pressure to protect their advantage and secure their fifth Champ victory in seven outings.

The result sees Rotherham sitting fifth in the league table as they prepare for the visit of a Hartpury side who will be equally determined to get their season moving in the right direction.

Hartpury arrive at Clifton Lane following a hard-fought 36-12 defeat against top four side Chinnor.

Having finished sixth last season and qualified for the end-of-season play-offs, the Gloucestershire outfit have made a more modest start to the current campaign, recording just one victory from the opening seven rounds.

However, their league position should not be taken as an indication of the challenge facing Titans on Saturday.

Hartpury have shown throughout the opening weeks that they are a competitive outfit, capable of making life extremely difficult for even the strongest sides in the division.

Their recent performance against reigning champions Worcester Warriors was a particularly good example. Hartpury pushed the champions all the way in a closely contested encounter, with Worcester only managing to secure victory in the closing minutes.

That performance will serve as a timely reminder to Rotherham that they will need to be at their very best if they are to collect another valuable home victory.

The history between the two clubs is relatively brief, with just two previous meetings, both taking place during the 2017/18 Championship season.

Hartpury came out on top on both occasions, in a campaign that ultimately saw Rotherham suffer relegation after an impressive 22-year spell competing in the top two divisions of English rugby.

Much has changed since those encounters, though, and a rejuvenated Titans side will be keen to demonstrate just how far the club has progressed since then.

Both teams have plenty to play for, with Rotherham looking to consolidate their position in the top half of the table and Hartpury eager to turn competitive performances into league points.

Another closely fought and entertaining contest looks likely at Clifton Lane, where Titans will be hoping to produce the performance required to make home advantage count and continue their encouraging start to life back in the Champ.

Going into the game Titans have made five changes from last week’s starting XV, two of which come in the backs and three in the forwards.

In the front row loosehead prop Zac Nearchou and hooker Morgan Veness maintain their places, with Tom Bairstow coming in for Corrie Barrett at tighthead.

Frankie Gascoigne and Alfie Bell go again in the second row.

In the back row a couple of changes sees John Okafor comes in at blindside for Ellis Thomas with Travis Gordon captaining the side from the openside, and Jack Baldry coming in for Callum Bustin at number 8.

Across the back line scrum half JB Bruzulier comes in for Cameron Nordli-Kelemeti and he’ll link-up in the half back positions with fly half Russell Bennett.

In midfield Ali Mgijima partners up again with Lloyd Hayes.

Whilst across the back three Epi Rokodrava comes in on the right wing for Mitchell Lacey-Babalola, with Ben Cambriani on the left wing and Isaac Shaw at Full Back.

Speaking ahead of the match Titans DOR Harvey Biljon said:

“I was really impressed with the players attitude and part of our performance at Nottingham, because we know Lady Bay is a difficult place to go on a Friday night. We also knew how important the game was to Nottingham, and they were firing on all cylinders and really going for it. That first 20 minutes was a real pressure battle in the right areas of the field for us; but we gave them some field position and some entries into our half and they showed they could be clinical as they took 17 points.

“We had to stay disciplined, we had to put pressure on at the set piece, both scrum and line out and then some of our defensive sets through that period and absorbing that pressure without allowing scores to happen was outstanding.

“We then showed that we could go and close out a game with a vital score from JB and you could see our team lift and Nottingham knew it was a one score game, and we knew we could go after it. Then we had a great moment from Travis which allowed us an entry, and we then showed the composure to go and finish it.

“We’ll have to be disciplined and composed again against Hartpury because we know just how tough they are. They are a team that has threats from 1 to 15 across the park. They are organised and know how to keep the ball and score points.

“This has happened to us a lot recently; it happened against Richmond and it happened against Nottingham. We seem to be hitting games where the teams we are playing will have targeted us as a ‘turnaround point’ in their season and if we are being honest, Hartpury are probably looking at us as a must win game for them.

“If you take look at Hartpury this season, you’ll see they have been very competitive in every game they’ve played. They also just lost out to Worcester in the final minutes of the game and at the end of that game they were still looking to try and win it.

“So, if they can hold the likes of Worcester and almost win against them, you know they’re a good team and when you put all these pieces together – a good team, threats all over the park, must win – then you know they’re going to come and take it to us and there’s absolutely no doubt that we’re going to have to be on it.

“We’ve had some dents this week around player availability, which gives others an opportunity, but for us we’re not getting carried away and we just need to build on what we’ve done in the first 7 games. We need to continue to enjoy our training, enjoy the experiences we’re having in the Champ and just keep building.”

Titans: 15 Isaac Shaw, 14 Epi Rokodrava, 13 Lloyd Hayes, 12 Ali Mgijima, 11 Ben Cambriani, 10 Russell Bennett, 9 JB Bruzulier, 1 Zac Nearchou, 2 Morgan Veness, 3 Tom Bairstow, 4 Frankie Gascoigne, 5 Alfie Bell, 6 John Okafor, 7 Travis Gordon (Capt.), 8 Jack Baldry.

Replacements: 16 Louis Inman, 17 Zach Toerien, 18 Corrie Barrett, 19 Lekima Ravuvu, 20 Harry Stone, 21 Callum Bustin, 22 Brent Jackson, 23 Tom Threlfall.

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