Swansea (6) vs Rotherham Titans (13) - British and Irish Cup fixtures
Pre-Match Report
Bester experiments for Swansea
Titans head coach Andre Bester has named an experimental side for their visit to Swansea in the British & Irish Cup on Saturday.
Nevertheless, 16 of the match day squad have played Championship rugby this season. One notable starter is new recruit from Glasgow Warriors Dave McCall. While on the bench and expected to play some part in the game is Jan-Francois Bester.
Bester (Snr) views the Swansea game as a vital exercise in his planning and development of his squad, he explained, “The game gives us the opportunity to give player’s game time and us the opportunity to experiment with certain players in different positions.
“We have a number of experimental positions in the team and it’s important to build our strengths so if we get injuries, we have players that can come in and perform in the Championship. We have brought Byron Godfrey to scrum half; we’ve brought Peter Homan in at inside centre, where in fact he’s played most of his rugby. We have new signing Dave McCall starting at 13 and we are looking forward to see what he can bring to Rotherham. And we are giving Elliott Brierley a run out on the wing.
“We are trying to put pressure on certain players and pressure will make the whole squad perform better. Our main aim is to reach the promotion play-offs and then make sure we have a squad ready to compete at the business end of the season.
“We don’t know too much about Swansea, but the one thing we do know is that the Welsh like to ‘beat-up’ English sides. I expect their scrum to be strong and very physical and there’s not a Welsh side out there that will do you any favours and we don’t expect them to.”
Titans: 15 Stephen Hamilton, 14 Elliott Brierley, 13 Dave McCall, 12 Peter Homan, 11 Jon McMahon, 10 Cliffie Hodgson, 9 Byron Godfrey, 1 Ben Harris, 2 Ross White, 3 Rikki Stout, 4 Ross Noonan, 5 Barney Maddison, 6 Sam Dickinson (Capt.), 7 Carl Kirwan, 8 Ben Wade.
Replacements: Ted Stagg, Shane Cahill, Jamie Kilbane, Adrian Griffiths, Jan-Francois Bester, Matt Rhodes, Ed Tellwright.
Swansea: 15 Barry Davies, 14 Tom Prydie, 13 Lewis Chance, 12 Nick Harwood, 11 Jackson Szabo, 10 Sam Davies, 9 Matthew Torrance, 1 Jamie Kayjaks, 2 Alun Rees, 3 Jo Rees, 4 Jack Jones (Capt.), 5 Richard Kelly, 6 David Blyth, 7 Sam Lewis, 8 Dan Baker.
Replacements: Tomas Owen, Craig Cross, Andrew Gwynne, Ben Davies, Scott Gibson, Nico Setaro, Nicky Thomas.
Match Report
Titans earn deserved victory in Wales
Rotherham Titans produced a fine display to register their first win in this seasons British & Irish Cup with a competent 13-6 victory away at Swansea.
In a low scoring encounter at the historic St Helen’s rugby ground, try scoring opportunities came at a premium. Not until the 21st minute when Welsh fly-half Sam Davies slotted over a penalty, did the scoreboard operator have to leave his seat.
After a sluggish start Titans started to put their phases together and put the hosts under pressure. That pressure told on the half-hour mark when Swansea gave away a penalty 30 metres from goal which allowed Cliffie Hodgson to level matters.
Titans increasingly imposed themselves as the half drew to its end, however they suffered a setback when lock Barney Maddison was yellow carded on 39 minutes for persistent infringements at the breakdown. Despite their numerical disadvantage Titans nudged ahead in stoppage time when Cliffie Hodgson nailed a sweet drop goal from around 30 metres, after some fine interplay between backs and forwards.
Rotherham continued to impress after the break and pressed Swansea deep inside their 22. From a line-out close to the host’s line the ball arrived with Hodgson, his pass found Ross Noonan who off-loaded to the onrushing Ben Harris for the first try of the match. Hodgson converted to extend Titans lead to 13-3.
On the hour mark Sam Davies knocked over a penalty after Titans were caught offside on the edge of their own 22. Davies’ penalty made it a 7 point game and Swansea enjoyed a period of pressure inside the Titans 22. The Rotherham defence however was exceptional and snuffed out the Swansea threat with great efficiency.
Late on Titans pressed and threatened deep into Welsh territory and it seemed inevitable they would score further, particularly so after Swansea had Tom Prydie yellow-carded for a deliberate knock-on which prevented Titans going over in the corner. However, Swansea just managed to hold out with some frantic defending to pick up the loosing bonus point.
Titans’ victory was thoroughly deserved and one that pleased head coach Andre Bester who commented, “It took us about 30 minutes to get into the match today, because we were playing as individuals. Thereafter and in the 2nd half I thought we completely dominated them and we were outstanding.
“They are a bunch of young players together and they did very well and they got good match time under their belts. I thought everybody took their opportunity and in all fairness to these players they should be playing more matches. But this is the process that we are currently going through and we are only at the infant stage of that process.
“We just need to work through this period and focus now on the Doncaster match next week. We first need to make sure we qualify for the play-off’s and get ourselves into a good position and then really try hard to give these players the opportunity to gain experience and get better. I thought they all did well.
“In terms of the Championship everything is important to us and our first goal is to get to 50 points. Then if we get to 50 points we can start rotating and it’s absolutely critical that we start rotating the squad. We need another 18 points to get there and we need to get there as soon as possible.
“The development of players is part and parcel of what we are trying to do here. And if the development of players is not done right and you reach the play-offs and get injuries, then you are in trouble.”
Titans are back in league action this Saturday when they entertain South Yorkshire rivals Doncaster Knights at Clifton Lane, kick-off 2pm.
Referee: Cammy Rudkin
Attendance: 250
Titans Scorers: Harris (T), Hodgson (P, C, D).
Swansea Scorers: S. Davies (2P).
Titans: 15 Stephen Hamilton, 14 Elliott Brierley, 13 Dave McCall, 12 Peter Homan, 11 John McMahon, 10 Cliffie Hodgson (Rhodes 58), 9 Byron Godfrey, 1 Ben Harris, 2 Ross White (Bester 66), 3 Rikki Stout (Kilbane 66), 4 Ross Noonan, 5 Barney Maddison, 6 Sam Dickinson (Capt.), 7 Carl Kirwan, 8 Ben Wade (Cahill 62).
Replacements: 16 Ted Stagg, 17 Shane Cahill, 18 Jamie Kilbane, 19 Adrian Griffiths, 20 Jan-Francois Bester, 21 Matt Rhodes, 22 Ed Tellwright.
Swansea: 15 Barry Davies, 14 Tom Prydie, 13 Lewis Chance, 12 Nick Harwood, 11 Jackson Szabo, 10 Sam Davies, 9 Matthew Torrance, 1 Jamie Kayjaks, 2 Alun Rees, 3 Jo Rees, 4 Jack Jones (Capt.), 5 Richard Kelly, 6 David Blyth, 7 Sam Lewis, 8 Dan Baker.
Replacements: 16 Tomas Owen, 17 Craig Cross, 18 Andrew Gwynne, 19 Ben Davies, 20 Scott Gibson, 21 Nico Setaro, 22 Nicky Thomas.
