By Roth Admin
January 6 2004

Rotherham Titans Lost their 14th straight game in the Zurich Premiership, going down to Bath by 18 points to 34. This week’s match report has been written by 15 year old Jamie Jenkinson, a year 11 pupil at Clifton Comprehensive School. I hope this does not put me out of a job! On Sunday the fourth of January 2004, 6,195 people witnessed an incredible sight. The eighty minutes of rugby played on that bitterly cold afternoon must be one of the most exciting contests in the previous five years of Rotherham Titans history.

On the evening of Saturday 8th May 2004 after the visit of Newcastle Falcons and consequently the end of the season, people will look back to Sunday’s game and will most probably regard it as the performance of the season.

If you were one of the unlucky few who could not attend the game or you did attend and simply want to re-live the excitement; here is roughly how it went.

In the first five minutes the Titans and Bath exchanged punt kicks and line outs. However in the sixth minute Rotherham’s already relentless defence was penalised just inside their own half for not rolling away after the tackle had been made. So, with a calm wind gently blowing, Olly Barkley from 47 metres out and to the right of the posts slotted home the penalty. The 0-3 advantage was celebrated by the valiant supporters of Bath.

The next relevant piece of action came when Ryno van der Merwe in the tenth minute put pressure on Barkley and forced him to kick out on the full outside the safety net of his own 22 metre line. Just 5 seconds later, what appeared to be the fearless figure of Corniel van Zyl took a quick lineout to Geraint Lewis, who had a 35 metre unchallenged sprint to the Bath try line. It was a well-worked, fast thinking move executed brilliantly by the Rotherham back rower. I believe that is the Welsh Wizard’s fourth try of the season. A missed conversion from 25 metres left of the posts, from Benson left the score at 5-3 to the Yorkshire men.

Just 5 minutes later, Bath conceded a penalty by entering a maul from the side. From 40 metres out, Jon Benson succeeded with the difficult kick. It is believed that this was Benson’s finest performance for the Titans. Calm, collective kicking and pin point passing outlined a marvellous display. Back to the action, the score was made 8-3.

A missed Bath penalty from 35 metres in the 17th minute and a heroic tackle on Simon Danielli from Giscard Pieters in the corner gave the Community Stand full of junior rugby sides from all over South Yorkshire something to cheer about. It also concluded the first quarter of the match.

However the 23rd minute was the one which caused most excitement. A predictive Bath backs move was stopped by the interception made by Bernardo Stortoni on the Rotherham 22 metre line. The quick footed Argentinean sprinted every remaining metre but the last one untouched. The impressive full-back ran his South American heart out but a miraculous recovery from Alex Crockett and Wylie Human prevented Bath from coming up against an uphill struggle. Another missed penalty from Olly Barkley, 25 metres out kept the scores at 8-3 to the home side after 30 minutes.

For the next ten minutes the Titans protected their try line from the league- leader’s sharp backs. Unfortunately, a brave tackle from the Rotherham defence was evaded by Barkley who slid in under the posts. He converted his own try which brought the score to 8-10 in favour of the visitors. This brought relief and joy to the travelling fans.

This joy and relief was enhanced when a smart change of direction in attack allowed Bath to have men over on the left wing deep into injury time, 5 minutes to be exact. Zak Feaunati was the man who put his name on the score sheet. A superb touchline conversion from Barkley ended the half with the score at 8-17.

The start to the second half may be a contender for the most bizarre of the season. Benson restarted by kicking half-way into Bath’s 22. Martyn Wood, Bath’s scrum half, threw a pass to Barkley who had a clearance kick blocked by the formidable Brad Macleod-Henderson. Brad, himself, picked up the ball and dove for the white wash. After just 17 seconds the Titans were back in contention. Benson’s conversion took the score to 15-17.

On 47 minutes, Rotherham broke forward and a creative chip from Benson fell into the arms of number 12, Jon Pritchard. But then the ball fell out again, ending a promising attack. Jon Pritchard’s work this season I feel, has gone largely unnoticed and believe his awareness in attack and brevity in defence has a large impact on the Titan’s line-up.

Back to the action once again and in the fifteenth minute of the second half, Rotherham were awarded a penalty 25 metres out. Benson comfortably slotted home three points to secure the lead for the Titans once again. 18-17. However, just three minutes later Barkley returned the favour. 18-20.

On 63 minutes after a Rotherham scrummaging offence just outside their own 22, Bath were awarded a penalty. However, Barkley stepped up and missed his third kick of the afternoon. For the next ten minutes, Rotherham fought bravely and attacked aggressively with fantastic spirit. But Bath proved why they are top of the table with their organised defence.

In the 78th minute, Irish international Kevin Maggs made a world class break to leave himself one-on-one with Stortoni. Maggs had Crockett on his shoulder and therefore unselfishly provided his partner in the centres with a 10 metre free sprint under the posts. Barkley converted the easy kick. 18-27 to the visitors.

In the first minute of injury time, Bath were caught offside and the Titans were awarded with a penalty 35 metres from goal. There were two choices. Do they kick for the corner and push for the win or do they kick for goal and try to guarantee themselves at the very least a losing bonus point. Guy Easterby chose the latter and Benson missed his kick. There were seven minutes of injury time remaining and the Titans were still not dead in the water. There was still time for more points.

However, the points came in the form of Bath full-back Wylie Human’s converted try. An inventive move which Human himself, created space for the full-back to make his move. Barkley converted the easy kick. An 18-34 score line was cruel, unfair and an inaccurate distortion of the truth. The Titans may still be winless but on Saturday’s performance more points should be expected from the brave northerners.

I would just like to give a brief mention to Lee Blackett who gave a fantastic account of himself with his tenacious tackling and aggressive attacking.

Rotherham: Stortoni; Pieters, Pritchard, Umaga (Jorgensen, 61), Blackett; Benson (Jones, 80), Easterby (capt); Lloyd, Long (Johnson, 61), Olckers (Dorsey, 50), Gross, Van Zyl (Kenworthy 70), Van der Merwe, Macleod-Henderson, Lewis (Greeff, 80).
Tries: Lewis, Macleod-Henderson. Con: Benson. Pens: Benson 2.

Bath: Human; Higgins, Maggs, Crockett (Blake, 80), Danielli; Barkley, Wood; Flatman, Humphreys (Mears, 61), Bell, Borthwick, Grewcock (capt; Fidler, 80), Beattie, Lipman (Scaysbrook, 64), Feaunati.
Tries: Barkley, Feaunati, Crockett, Human. Cons: Barkley 4. Pens: Barkley 2.

Referee: G Ashton-Jones.
Att: 6,195.


Match Report by Jamie Jenkinson