By Chris Chaplin
November 19 2003

Certainly looking at the Premiership table the newly promoted Yorkshire club seem to have their tickets booked for the return voyage to National One. Though there’s plenty of rugby yet to be played in this crazy season and the time for Tigers and the rest of those in the bottom half of the table to become complacent that Rotherham are doomed is some way off just yet.

I think most non-financially motivated followers of the Union code (that’s the supporters) felt that Rotherham had been hard done to at the end of the 2001/2 season when they won the National One Championship but due the machinations of many Premiership clubs and the league’s ruling bodies the South Yorkshire club were denied their just reward. Bottom club of that season, Leeds, survived in the Premiership by default and it was not until by again winning their league championship that Rotherham finally got their just desserts.

Once promotion was finally assured Jim Kilfoyle got his cheque book out and brought no fewer than thirteen new players to their new Millmoor home, one of whom was our very own Derek Jelley, although the Welford Road favourite has yet to be in the starting XV in Titans’ Premiership campaign.

Bidding their farewells to the Yorkshire lowlands were just six players and again there was a Tigers’ connection with the arrival of our favourite Italian, Ramiro Pez, at Welford Road. The only other surprising departures, for me at least, were Rob Thirlby and Mark Giacheri who’s joint experience would, I’d have thought, been useful to the Premiership new boys.

The Titans’ involvement with the World Cup is at an end with Keyter, Gross and Easterby now returned, although not universally restored, Easterby being a later arrival with the Irish not being knocked out until the quarter finals.

In last weekend’s Powergen Cup encounter it was more bad news for Rotherham as they got another thumping from Newcastle Falcons for the second weekend in a row and in front of a crowd barely into four figures, so it’s now back to the important stuff – Premiership survival!

In Titans’ front row it seems that ex Wakefield Loose Head Nick Lloyd has pretty much established himself as first choice as has another youngster Peter Smyth at Hooker. On the tight side local lad Simon Bunting had been starting but since his arrival at the Millmoor ground specialist New Zealand born John Rawson has been getting the starting spot. Bunting was around when Rotherham made their last short lived sojourn into the Premiership but I guess that Rawson was intended to bring more experience to an otherwise young front row. On current results the strategy has yet to bear fruit and with Christian Loader having now returned to the Land of His Fathers by joining Celtic warriors experience is at something of a premium for the coaches.

At lock we can expect to see the giant figure of American Eagle Luke Gross who at 6’9’’ and 18 stone cuts an imposing figure and one that is hard to avoid at line out time, although he seemed to be occupied more as a lifter than a receiver when I saw him play in the World Cup. A close season signing from The Scarlets the American has been capped 62 times for his country and while his experience may not have been of many international victories he has and does compete at the highest level so his return to the fold will have given his club a welcome boost.

The second row has been something of a mix ‘n’ match up yonder this season with young 20 year old Jon Pendlebury, experienced Kiwi flanker Glen Remnant, who was initially sidelined through injury, clubman Dan Cook and Zimbabwean flanker Leon Greef all having a go in the engine room and it’s hard to see how this can be good for establishing a sound partnership in this key area.

It is perhaps this lack of permanence in the pivotal second row, coupled with a largely inexperienced front row that has seen the Titans fail to dominate and cough up possession and penalties. I guess that Gross will be the cornerstone for the rest of the season but I wonder who will be his regular partner with coaches Schmid and Umaga having to choose between flankers and inexperience, although they now have South African Stefan Nels fresh from Connacht to help them in their task.

Speaking of flankers here we have another ever moving assortment with the aforementioned Leon Greef fitting in appearances in the back row with his night shift at lock. Close season signing from London Irish James Cockle has made a few starts and managed to get over the whitewash and I rather suspect that the ex Bedford man hoped that by heading north he’d be able to cement his place in the starting line-up rather more easily than in the highly competitive back row at The MadStad where in the 24 appearances he made he managed three tries.

Russell Earnshaw will perhaps be best remembered for his 39 Premiership appearances for Bath where he scored eight tries. He brings solid club based experience to the back row where with Greef I would have thought in joining with the pick of the bunch, #8 Geraint Lewis, they would be a battle hardened and experienced trio, perhaps at the expense of solid clubman Neil Spence who made a series of early season starts vanished for a while and only reappeared to start against Newcastle in the Cup.

I have only seen Rotherham play once this season and in that game Lewis was outstanding with the experience that his 23 caps for Wales earned clearly seen.

I have to say that the Titans’ cause cannot have been helped by the lack of stability in the pack which has been more than the absence of Luke Gross can be held accountable for.

The situation at scrum half has been more settled with Fijian international Jacob Raulini being pretty much a fixture with academy player Matt Rhodes coming on as replacement to gain experience and making his first start against Sarries in the enforced absence of Charlie Harrison on Red Card duty. Raulini has been capped over 30 times for his country and initially opted to stay at Millmoor rather than travel to Australia before making a last minute dash to join the Fijian squad. The Queensland Reds Super 12 player was a key figure in Rotherhams’ promotion quest and given decent ball by his pack can be very dangerous on the break and is possessed of a good sound service from what I’ve seen of him.

It will be interesting to see how Mike Schmidt shuffles his deck with Guy Easterby back in contention. More changes and instability perhaps or the experience of the feisty 42 time capped Irishman proving invaluable and worth more upheaval. I kind of think he’ll play on Saturday.

In the early part of the season Raulini had a steady partnership with Welshman Jason Strange who made a good impression with his boot and was often the sole reason for the Titans’ side of the scoreboard not seizing up through lack of movement. Here too though following the recent arrival of Argentinian Bernado Stortoni the consequently deposed full back Jonathan Benson, late of Leeds Tykes, has been getting to start at fly-half with ex League player Phil Jones popping up for good measure with Strange back as the most recent wearer of the #10 jersey last Sunday.

The partnership of ex Saint and Wallaby Peter Jorgensen and ex Newport centre Bristolian Jonathan Pritchard has at least been pretty consistent with only Joe Ewens emigrating from the wing on the odd occasion, although against Falcons last weekend Pritchard was joined by Phil Jones in the centre . I always rated Jorgensen when he was at Saints where he made 35 Premiership appearances, scoring just shy of a dozen tries in the process. He has the ability to spot a good line and use his speed and strength to capitalise on it and so I wonder why he was absent last weekend.

On the left wing the berth has been shared between ex Glaws., Bath., Bedford and Bristol player Joe Ewens and another ex Bath player Michael Wood who spent some time back near his roots in the North East with a spell at Falcons.

I saw Ewens play quite a few times when he was at Gloucester, where he made almost 50 Premiership appearances though I always thought of him as centre rather than a winger. Good honest hardworking player but fell from fashion when Gloucester started bringing in their fine plumed exotica under Phillipe St.Andre. However with Wood getting injured early on in the season Ewens has had to deputise as a wingman but Academy player Dave Strettle got the nod against Falcons as a reward for a stunning hat-trick of tries against Cambridge University.

On the right wing we at last come to another vein of consistency where ex Sale winger Anthony Elliott has taken up residence. The young Stockton born winger is the epitome of the new “big old units” that are so often found out on the wing these days. He managed only 14 Premiership appearances for Sale but scored 6 tries for them which says something for his finishing as does the fact that against all the odds he’s breached opposition defences three times since joining Rotherham but in spite of this record the other returning USA Eagle, Jason Keyter, was preferred last weekend as Elliott had a thigh strain.

Finally then to Full Back where as previously mentioned erstwhile Tyke Jonathan Benson, was seemingly settled in the #15 jersey until the very recent arrival of Stortoni from Argentina and who, with 17 caps and 7 tries for his country, as well as some useful points from his boot, has slotted in as the last line of defence.

It’s obviously going to be a massive task for Rotherham to stay in the Premiership with their being more than three four point wins adrift of their nearest neighbours Sarries on 13 points with Tigers on 14. The question haunting Millmoor is whether they can, as a start, lose four fewer games than either Sarries or Tigers in the just about half a season that remains after they play Tigers next weekend.

Thus far Titans have been unable to secure much restart or quality set piece ball and therefore have been eternally on the back foot so as it is usually the case the packs will decide who wins and the backs by how many Rotherham’s problem can probably be simply assessed.

Will Tigers aid Titans’ cause next Weekend or will the Tigers record their first away win of the 2003/4 season?

Well unless the Tigers’ defence coaches do something about the awful defensive play that saw Sale run in more than a handful of tries last weekend we could have a problem. What ever happened to the renowned and redoubtable Tigers defence that was the envy of other clubs throughout Europe?

In the first half Sale made three sorties into the Tigers’ 22 and each time came away with tries and the simplest of tries at that.

The Tigers pack played well and dominated the newly impressive Sale eight so it was something of a mystery as to why they did not compete for a restart, which led directly to a try for Sale from the unopposed possession or on a Sale attacking lineout where more easy possession led directly to another simple score.

The Tigers’ front five were very impressive with Richards having another top class game, let’s keep him for goodness sake. The work that Stewart Campbell has done in stabilising Tigers’ lineout is beyond worth. It’s true Tigers don’t look like being a serious threat to the opposition’s ball yet but at least their own has been made largely secure, especially as Richards is finding the Leeds based Scot and Deacon with pretty much unerring accuracy. If he keeps this standard up against Rotherham and the lineout continues with it’s “keep it simple and do it well” policy then I can see them faring well against the unsettled Titans’ duo.

The experienced and gritty Tigers front row should also dominate if they continue as they started in the second half against Bath and continued against both Wasps and Sale over the past couple of weeks.

It was good to see Balding start on Saturday and I hope he keeps his spot at #8. Dan Lyle had a quiet game I thought and his poor decision to ignore the two unmarked players outside him, who would without a shadow of a doubt have scored, was toe curlingly bad, especially as he failed to score himself. Josh, as usual, was immense. Geraint Lewis was strangely absent from the Titans’ line up against Falcons but if he returns against Tigers, which he surely will if fit, he represents a real danger with ball in hand and it will be interesting to see how fellow Kiwis Remnant and Kronfeld square up to each other as Josh approaches the end of his time at Tigers. How we shall miss him when he goes – I don’t suppose he’ll change his mind will he? Hard to see Josh being beaten either around the tackle area or on the floor by his countryman.

All in all I am expecting another dominant performance from the pack to set out the stall for themselves and Tigers’ backs to score some tries.

Harry did not have a good day at the office against Sale with his service slowing down again in spite of good ball from the pack and his decision making was also awry. Tom Tierney looked solid when he came on toward the end of normal time but with the best #9 at the club still presumably to be denied the shirt we must hope that Ellis sharpens up.

With Ellis’ slow and often hesitant service it remains hard to judge Pez as by the time he receives the ball the opposition defence is upon him and his decision is all too often whether to kick, let Daryl take the tackle or take it himself. Against Titans quick ball would be rewarded as either Pez or Gibson could straighten with slight of foot and or hand against the opposition midfield through the 10/12 channel giving Ollie another chance to cross the whitewash. I was disappointed in the first half against Sale by Ollie’s lack of awareness which meant that a scoring pass did not come as could usually be expected from the hugely talented youngster.

Fred was also quieter on Saturday and I have to say that his defence is becoming of growing concern with missed tackles again putting Tigers under pressure. I’d like to see Steve Booth start on the left this week, assuming he’s not injured, and similarly if he is recovered I can’t believe that the very impressive Neil Baxter will not again feature. What a good player he’s looking, not only lightening fast in attack but putting in some good defensive work as well.

Well will Oz be at 15? Will Booth return there? Will Oz finally start at #9? Will Vesty be at full-back (it’s listed as one of his positions)? Who knows?

I really can’t conceive that even in this lack lustre season Tigers will fail to achieve what every other club in the Premiership has and that is to beat Rotherham.

The Tigers pack should just be too strong and experienced for the Titans’ eight and deny the home side enough ball with which to work. If I’m wrong then I think it fair to say that we have a problem of even greater magnitude than we thought.

Tigers to win and win well then – they’ve got to if they’re to have any credibility as the HEC and of course first a home fixture against Bath approaches, let’s just hope they don’t underestimate the task that a desperate Rotherham may present.