National Division 1

14th January 2006

Earth Arena

2:00pm Kick off

Titans 44

Coventry 29

V

Earth Titans: 15 Errie Claassens, 14 John Holtby, 13 WP Strauss, 12 Lee Blackett (Capt), 11 Anthony Carter, 10 David Strettle (Ledowyk Strauss 61), 9 Joe Bedford, 1 Jon Golding, 2 Neil Hanna (Nigel Conroy 69), 3 John Rawson (Adam Hopcroft 53), 4 Jannie Bornman, 5 Gareth McComb, 6 Hendre Fourie (Chris Hala’Ufia 55) (Louie McGowan 74) 7 Neil Cochrane (Morne Jonker 82), 8 Scott Donald

Replacements Not Used

Mike Whitehead.

Coventry: 15 A. Stewart, 14 S. Booth, 13 K. Geraghty, 12 D. Tiueti, 11 J. Moore, 10 D. Harvey, 9 C. McGrath, 1 K. Pulu, 2 R. Protherogh, 3 P. Bucknall, 4 D. Campton, 5 H. Rheeders (Capt.), 6 T. Johnson, 7 M. Buckingham, 8 H. Venter

Replacements

16 R. Chrystie, 17 J. Higgins, 18 D. Millard, 19 M. Groves, 20 N. Treston, 21 M. Pale, 22 R. Brits. N. Treston

Post match Andre Bester said, “Our first phase was solid, our line outs were good, our scrums were good against a big pack and our backs were mesmerising at times. I thought Strettle was outstanding at stand-off and if he can master the art of playing there, he will reach an unbelievable standard.”

Rotherham started much the brighter and raced into a deserved 6-0 lead after 8 minutes with two WP Strauss penalties. Coventry replied almost immediately, first with a James Moore penalty and then with an Apoua Stewart try which Moore converted.

Stewart’s try came as a result of a punt from the visitors 22 with no Roth full back in place. Holtby chased across from the right wing but Stewart had the legs to go over.

Midway through with Roth’s forwards now well on top and pressing the Coventry line hard, a pick and drive from 5 metres out saw open-side Neil Cochrane, driven over for a fine team try which Strauss converted.

Just before the half hour mark Coventry scrum-half Craig McGrath was yellow carded for a deliberate knock on after a sustained period of Roth pressure. Rotherham made the most of their numerical advantage, scoring three tries in the next ten minutes.

Fourie, Claassens and Donald all went over with Strauss converting two, as Roth virtually took the game away from the visitors. Claassens try in particular was a splendid effort. Started initially by Claassens fielding a high kick just outside his 22, he went 20 metres infield before finding Carter. Carter progressed into the visitors 22 before off-loading to Bornman, who finally fed it back to Claassens to go over near the right corner for one of the best tries of the season.

Half Time: Roth 32-10 Coventry

As expected Coventry came out fired up for the second half and Roth seemed to loose the momentum that they had gained earlier. On 48 minutes from a Coventry line out near the Roth line, the visitors spread the ball infield and back again for centre Dave Tiueti to go over in the corner for an unconverted try.

Roth responded shortly after when Strettle showed good pace and strength to take the ball inside the Coventry 22. After good recycling work from the pack, Bornman popped out to crash over near the sticks for a converted try.

As the game entered the final quarter the visitors showed good character by scoring two converted tries from Tom Johnson and David Harvey. Although Roth will have been disappointed at the way they conceded the tries, it was a fair reward for a gutsy Coventry performance.

With 15 minutes to go plus injury time, the faithful in the shed could have been excused their anxiety at the prospect of Roth throwing the game away. They needn’t have worried though; Roth controlled the final ten and sealed the victory in injury time when Donald popped up again for his second try near the corner. Strauss missed the conversion, but that did not matter.

Final Score: Roth 44-29 Coventry

Overall it was a pleasing team effort by Rotherham, the pack dominated in the main, the set piece was good and there were some outstanding individual performances.

The back line at times showed the great potential they have as an attacking force in this division. David Strettle showed glimpses that he could develop into a formidable stand-off and if he decides to stay, Bester will undoubtedly get the best out of him in that position.

Man of the Match Jannie Bornman recaptured his best form as he dominated in the line out, showed good pace and strength throughout and bullied his Coventry counterparts at every opportunity.

Next up is Cornish Pirates at Clifton Lane next Saturday. This will be an extremely tough game, but it will also be a good yardstick to measure how far the team has progressed this season.

Full post match comments to follow.

Doncaster 17-24 Bedford

Harlequins 43-3 Otley

London Welsh 23-16 Exeter

Nottingham 23-16 Sedgley Park

Plymouth Albion 34-21 Bees

Playing Sun 15th January

Cornish Pirates 30-10 Newbury

National Division 1

Roth v Cornish Pirates 21 January at Earth Arena.

kick off 2.00pm

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