Rotherham Titans (24) vs Ulster (31) - British and Irish Cup fixtures
Pre-Match Report
Titans select a strong squad for Ulster
Eighteen of the squad of twenty two have started games in the Championship this season and a Titans victory, depending on other results, could see them progress into the knock-out stage of the competition.
The two sides have never met previously, but the Ravens side selected boasts a wealth of experience with the majority of them having some Magners League/RaboDirect Pro12 experience.
Titans coach Andre Bester is expecting a tough encounter against the Ulstermen and commented, “It is great to have Ulster Ravens over here for our B&I Cup match and we warmly welcome them to Clifton Lane. There’s no doubt Ulster will be very competitive and will provide us with the sternest of tests. It will provide us with a difficult challenge, but it is a challenge we will relish and look forward to.”
Ulster Ravens coach Gary Longwell has made three changes to his starting XV for this Saturday’s match.
Andi Kyriacou has come in to replace Nigel Brady as hooker and captain, with Callum Black and Jerry Cronin retaining the prop positions. James Simpson and Lewis Stevenson form a new second row partnership as they replace Neil McComb and Tim Barker. The back row trio of Ali Birch, Willie Faloon and Mike McComish stays unchanged.
The entire back line from the win over Pontypridd last weekend remains intact and includes an all-Dungannon back three of Chris Cochrane, Conor Gaston and Peter Nelson. The bench has a similar look but there are call ups for David O’Mahoney, who will provide cover at lock, and Stuart Olding, who can play outside half or centre.
The Ravens go into the last game occupying top spot in Pool 5 of the British & Irish Cup, with all 6 pool winners and the best two runners up progressing to the quarter finals. A bonus point win for Longwell’s side would secure a home quarter final. The quarter finals are due to be played on Saturday 21st January 2012.
Rotherham Titans: 15 Stephen Hamilton, 14 John McMahon, 13 Elliot Brierley, 12 Byron Godfrey, 11 Peter Homan, 10 Cliffie Hodgson, 9 Matt Rhodes, 1 Jamie Kilbane, 2 Jan-Francois Bester, 3 Ben Hooper, 4 Ben Harris, 5 Adrian Griffiths, 6 Ben Wade, 7 Carl Kirwan, 8 Sam Dickinson (Capt.).
Replacements: 16 Ross White, 17 Ted Stagg, 18 Rob O’Donnell, 19 Shane Cahill, 20 Barney Maddison, 21 Jimmy Williams, 22 Ed Tellwright.
Ulster Ravens: 15 P Nelson, 14 C Gaston, 13 M Allen, 12 C Farrell, 11 C Cochrane, 10 J McKinney, 9 I Porter, 1 C Black, 2 A Kyriacou (Capt.), 3 J Cronin, 4 J Simpson, 5 L Stevenson, 6 A Birch, 7 W Faloon, 8 M McComish.
Replacements: 16 N Annett, 17 C Carey, 18 D O’Mahoney, 19 N Faloon, 20 B McIlroy, 21 S Olding, 22 R Andrew.
Match Report
Titans edged out by fluent Ulster
Titans’ fringe players produce a competitive performance against a very good Ulster Ravens outfit as they raced into an early 7-0 lead after just four minutes. A catch and drive move from just inside the visitors 22 culminated with John McMahon touching down for Cliffie Hodgson to convert.
Although visiting fly-half James McKinney struck a penalty shortly after, veteran Ben Wade making his 112th appearance for Rotherham, crashed over from close range on 12 minutes to record his 36th try for the club; a remarkable achievement for the back-rower.
Ravens appeared to find another gear and excellent work from their forwards and backs resulted in two first half tries. Following McKinney’s second penalty, loose head prop Black stormed over from close range and just before the break full back Nelson finished a neat move through the backs to dib down in the corner. McKinney converted the first and Titans trailed 12-18 at the interval.
Ulster continued to edge matters in the second period and their backs in particular looked sharp. However, it was Titans who scored next on the hour mark, after a clever chip over the top was collected by the impressive Peter Homan, who gathered ahead of two defenders to race in from 25 metres to score a fine unconverted try and reduce the arrears to a single point.
Once again Ulster responded and another impressive move involving their nippy backs resulted in Nelson collecting his 2nd try of the match as he touched down in the corner. Eight minutes from time and Nelson increased the visitors lead to 26-17 after taking over kicking duties from the replaced McKinney.
Five minutes from time and Titans gave themselves a sniff of victory after Carl Kirwan’s impressive try was converted to leave the hosts trailing by just two points.
Ultimately it was not to be, as the final move of the game saw Ravens open side flanker Willie Faloon bundled over in the corner to seal a 31-24 victory for the Ulstermen.
Post match Titans head coach Andre Bester said, “I thought everybody played admirably. It’s very difficult for us to play matches like this because the last match these boys played together was against Swansea and that was about 5 weeks ago. Whereas Ulster have played 4 or 5 matches on the trot with this team and they have great continuity.
“I thought rather than them wining it, I thought we lost it. I thought Ulster came back very well when they had their backs to the wall. We were excellent in the first 15 minutes and in all fairness to the young players, I think there are a few of them that I believe can really kick-on and become not only outstanding players at this level, but at the next level too.
“What was disappointing were our core skills, I thought we were very lateral in the first half, but a little more direct in the second half. We had loads of opportunities to score tries and to put things away, but it just didn’t happen, which wasn’t acceptable. I also thought in the last ten minutes the game went away from us. We made a couple of changes and maybe those changes disrupted us somewhat.
“But the positive is we are moving in the right direction. Two or three years back our ‘A’ team would have been slaughtered by that team and probably our 1st team would have been beaten too. Now we are in a position where our ‘A’ team is competing very well against these guys and should have won the match and that’s an ‘A’ team that doesn’t even play week in and week out.”
Referee: Ian Davies
Attendance: 581
Rotherham Titans: McMahon (T), Wade (T), Homan (T), Kirwan (T), Hodgson (2C).
Ulster Ravens: Black (T), Nelson (2T, 1P), W Fallon (T), McKinney (2P, 1C).
Rotherham Titans: 15 Stephen Hamilton, 14 John McMahon, 13 Elliot Brierley, 12 Byron Godfrey, 11 Peter Homan, 10 Cliffie Hodgson, 9 Matt Rhodes, 1 Jamie Kilbane, 2 Jan-Francois Bester (White 60), 3 Ben Hooper, 4 Ben Harris, 5 Adrian Griffiths, 6 Ben Wade, 7 Carl Kirwan, 8 Sam Dickinson (Capt.) (Maddison 60).
Replacements: 16 Ross White, 17 Ted Stagg, 18 Rob O’Donnell, 19 Shane Cahill, 20 Barney Maddison, 21 Jimmy Williams, 22 Ed Tellwright.
Ulster Ravens: 15 P Nelson (Andrew 75), 14 C Gaston, 13 I Whitten, 12 C Farrell, 11 C Cochrane, 10 J McKinney (Allen 45), 9 I Porter (McIlroy 45), 1 C Black, 2 A Kyriacou (Capt.) (Annett 65), 3 J Cronin (Carey 60), 4 J Simpson (O’Mahoney 75), 5 L Stevenson, 6 A Birch, 7 W Faloon, 8 M McComish (N Faloon 70).
Replacements: 16 N Annett, 17 C Carey, 18 D O’Mahoney, 19 N Faloon, 20 B McIlroy, 21 M Allen, 22 R Andrew.
