Who Jersey
are Facing
By James
Hewlett
Rotherham
Titans Rugby Club
Founded:
1923
Home Ground:
Clifton Lane
Head Coach:
Lee Blackett
Last Season:
7th
Last season:
Rotherham’s
2012/13 was very much an up and down season. Some fantastic results amongst their
ten league wins, but also some equally disappointing ones. They had enough to
keep them out of the fight for relegation, but not quite enough to battle for a
play-off spot. They began the season with a tough bonus point defeat to London
Scottish before a stunning 38-all draw with fancied Bedford, two late Roth’
tries pulling the Blues back from a game they looked certain to lose. An away
win over a good Nottingham side followed before they put over 50 points past a
beleaguered Jersey still trying to find their feet in the Championship.
Plymouth punished a poor performance, before Roth’ beat a Bristol side short of
form. Wins over Moseley and Doncaster kept the Yorkshire side safely in
mid-table despite heavy losses to Newcastle and the Cornish Pirates, also
losing to Leeds and Bedford before the year was out. The British and Irish Cup
was also keenly contested with four wins and a draw, but ultimately a heavy
defeat to Munster pushed them into second and out of the tournament.
The New Year
began with four defeats in five games before they got their season back on
track, beating Doncaster away in a game that was hugely significant for Jersey in
the relegation battle. The season ended on a high with three wins, all at home
against the Pirates, Moseley and Scottish, but nothing was to prepare the
Clifton Lane faithful for what was to come the following season.
The season
so far:
Without
doubt the Rotherham story is the surprise of the GK IPA Championship. Predicted
to finish mid table once again, a raft of new faces see them sat in the heady
heights of second place. They began with three victories; two bonus point wins
against Moseley, and devastating 79-9 humiliation of newly promoted Ealing. It
was a top of the table battle when London Welsh came to visit and Roth’ were
perhaps unfortunate to lose by only five points to the Exiles. A one point away
win over in-form London Scottish preceded a victory over Jersey. Two tight away
defeats to Leeds and Bristol were followed by wins over Nottingham and
Plymouth. A 35-6 thumping of a Bedford side who had just beaten Welsh was
impressive enough, but the 35-30 win over Cornish Pirates was perhaps the most
impressive performance of an outstanding season so far, considering the Pirates
had only lost twice in 13 matches and lead 24-3 after only a half hour of this
clash.
The Titans’
British and Irish cup group has also been keenly contested, winning by a point
over Bedford, losing by two to Connacht before beating Llanelli twice by five
and four points. Connacht at home were put to the sword with nine tries and
nearly 60 points, before an away trip to Bedford last weekend yielded their
fourth straight bonus point win and their eighth win in a row.
This
Rotherham side is far removed from the side that lost in the mud on pitch two
last season, and if London Welsh was considered a tough fixture last time out,
this is equally as difficult for Harvey Biljon in his first league match in
charge of the Island side. Despite last season’s heroics, this is as difficult
a test as Jersey has faced this season.
Previous
with Jersey:
The heaviest
defeat Jersey suffered last season came in their match at Clifton Lane. Despite
a Dai Bishop try early on, Jersey had conceded four tries before half time and
were 31-10 down at the break, with scrum half Jimmy Williams, now of Jersey,
dictating the play, setting up three of the four tries, and former, (and
future) back row forward Latu Makaafi heavily involved. Despite skipper Nathan
Hannay’s early try in the second half, a fifth for Roth virtually from the subsequent
restart, seemingly put the game to bed, but Jersey refused to lie down, with
Glenn Bryce going over in the corner. One more score for the Yorkshire-men preceded
a second for Bishop who ensured that Jersey took home their first try bonus
point of the season in a 54-31 defeat.
Back at St
Peter and with Jersey’s relegation revival in full swing, the main pitch was declared
unplayable after heavy rain. So the crowds packed onto an adjacent pitch to see
Jersey exact some form of revenge in a tense nail-biting match. An attritional
first half saw the teams go in at three all despite a Roth attacking scrum that
was repeatedly reset, and with prop Jon Brennan sin binned, the Jersey line
held out to possibly the biggest roar of the season so far.
The second
half began, with Jersey using their first half reprieve to send star man Guy
Thompson over for a converted try, and another penalty put Jersey 13-3 ahead
and looked set to see the game out. But as the Jersey fans had become
accustomed to, the home side made them sweat till the last kick, by conceding a
try with ten minutes remaining. And then with only seconds left, and a second
Jersey player in the sin bin, Rotherham had broken away with a huge overlap,
only for the referee to stop the play for a prolonged fight in midfield. He
took the play back to halfway, giving Jersey the breathing space to see the
match out, and a priceless four points.
The first
match, at Clifton Lane, between the sides this season was a desperately
disappointing affair for Jersey, who was always in the match. The Islanders
were pushing for a late try that would have seen them return home with a win. A
Titans penalty in the dying moments meant the Islanders left with only pride in
a 25-16 defeat. A break from the impressive Mark McCrea had earlier set up Ben
Maidment, whose try had cancelled out an earlier Roth’ score. A second Titans try
from the prolific hooker Tom Cruse left Jersey 19-16 behind at half time, facing
worsening weather conditions. Only two penalties, both from the hosts, were
scored in a testing second period, but Jersey will feel rightly aggrieved at
not taking a least a losing bonus point from this clash.
Rotherham Titans have been the revelation of 2013/14. Head Coach Lee
Blackett says it is not a shock to them, and that his players deserve it for
the effort put in, on and off the pitch. ‘It has come from a lot of hard work.
We just have a great culture, we have boys who care massively about this club
and will put their bodies on the line every week.’
Currently sat in second in the league, a big jump from
seventh last season, whilst hugely pleasing has come as a bit of a surprise for
Blackett. ‘It just shows how much your hard work can reap rewards. We have some
very good players, but we are batting well above our average and exceeding everyone’s
expectations. We may be in second place at this moment in time, but a loss, or
a coupl of poor performances, and you can find yourself well and truly outside
the top four.’
With no one outside the club expecting their form to
continue, the pressure is off the Titans, for this and subsequent matches.
Blackett thinks this is an advantage for his side who are quietly going about
their business whilst other big name clubs struggle: ‘No one really expects us
to be there at the end of the season, but we’ll keep working and try and do
something special.’
It was a controversial end to the match at St Peter last
season, but Blackett and the Titans do not see this as anything other than just
another match. ‘I think it is two completely different clubs to last year,’ he
said. He continued, ‘Jersey are in a much better position than they were 12
months ago, they have a very good squad.
Everyone there (Jersey) knows if they are honest, that they have been
big underachievers this year. But they have great players, and with Harvey (Biljon)
coming in he will do a great job.’
Blackett like many other coaches this season has been surprised
at the Islanders results. ‘I just feel that Jersey on paper is a very good
team,’ said the Rotherham top man. ‘Things just haven’t quite gone your way
this season. I had Jersey down as a top six side at the start of this term with
a slim chance of top four. But I genuinely believe that in the second half of
the season, Jersey will kick on and I honestly expect them to finish
comfortably mid-table, well clear of relegation.’
Blackett and the Titans coaching staff are under no illusions
about what coming to Jersey means to them and their season, and is hopeful of a
better spectacle than the game played in the mud on pitch two last time. ‘This
is a massive game for us,’ he said. ‘Forget the league positions and what has
happened before. It doesn’t matter on Saturday where you are in the table. You
can’t compare this game to last season. We don’t have too many players from last
year, nor do Jersey. Last year we were happy to play on that pitch. Jersey were
fully deserving of their win, they worked harder than we did, and earned the
points. There is no bad feeling and we are treating it like any other game. We
know that a win here would be massive for us.’
Ones to Watch:
Tom Cruse
DoB:
30/03/1989
Position:
Hooker
Height:
5’10”
Weight:
100kg
Titan’s fan favourite
Cruse has been in good form this season, with six tries to his name, not to
mention the power he brings to a mighty forward line. The former Macclesfield,
and Stockport forward has been honoured by the North’s U16 and U18, as well as
Cheshire Seniors. He was signed by the Sale Shark Academy, but after a season
there, a lack of game time saw him move to Clifton Lane. This season Cruse has
become the top try scorer in the league amongst the forwards, something which
he is rightly proud of. A very versatile forward, he is a hooker with enormous
potential and is one to keep an eye on for the future, as well as on the pitch today.
Juan Pablo Socino
DoB: 30/05/1988
Position: Fly-Half/Centre
Height: 5’9”
Weight: 89kg
Argentine International Socino,
is in his second spell at Clifton lane having left for Nottingham in 2011/12.
Representing Argentina at U19 level and in the 2008 Junior World Cup, Socino
turned out twice for the national side whilst with Nottingham. In his first
spell with the Titans, Socino amassed 273 points in 2010/11, a club record, when
he was named in the divisions dream team, a feat he repeated the following
season. He moved to Nottingham but cut short his contract to concentrate on
International ambitions, before a season spent at French side Dax. He rejoined
the Titans this summer and is currently the Championships top scorer with 190
points, well ahead of our own Niall O’Conner in second, with 109.
Laurence
Pearce
DoB: 03/12/1990
Position:
Number 8
Height: 6’4”
Weight:
120kg
Pearce
joined the Titans ahead of the 2012/2013 season, having been on a duel
registered contract in Rugby League with Hull FC and York City Knights. Pearce
has represented Yorkshire U20’s and England Colleges in Union, whilst also
representing England and GB Students in Rugby League. Pearce suffered a serious
knee injury ahead of last season, which restricted him to just six appearances
last term. In those six outings the back rower managed to score four tries and
his regular man-of-the-match performances earned him a contract extension at
Clifton Lane. This season he has continued where he left off last year and he has
made full use of his physical attributes as his barnstorming line breaks have
become a feature of his game.
Lloyd Hayes
DoB:
11/11/1991
Position:
Centre
Height: 6’1”
Weight: 95kg
Welsh born
outside centre Lloyd Hayes represents another find by the renowned scouting
system at Clifton Lane. Last season Hayes was plying his trade in National
League Three North for Chester RUFC, where he scored a massive 395 points in
their promotion-wining campaign. During last season’s campaign at Chester,
Hayes demonstrated his try-scoring prowess with 30 touchdowns and his
reliability from the kicking tee as he added a further 245 points. This term
Rotherham has used Hayes primarily for the British and Irish Cup, where he has
performed outstandingly well at fly half. He was given a start in his natural
outside centre position against Connacht, and was arguably Titans man-of-the
match as he scored a try and created a further two.
