Rotherham Preview 

Saturday sees the visit of Rotherham Titans to Sandy Park, with recent history and the current table suggesting a straightforward home win, although it might be expecting too much for a repeat of last season’s 62-10 outcome.

Things didn’t always go the Chiefs’ way, though, and newer fans may not realise the extent to which the Mighty Roth dominated ND1 in the past, finishing top in 1999, 2002 and 2003. The first and third occasions gave them the chance of competing in the “promised land” of the Premiership and, although they only lasted a season each time, they have achieved something that Chiefs fans can only dream about (hopefully for not much longer).

The 2002 title win saw Rotherham denied promotion through the notorious Premiership entry criteria, and it says a lot for their character that they dusted themselves off and came back stronger the next year. This era saw an ongoing battle for promotion between Roth and Worcester (with Chiefs playing the part of battling underdogs and often coming third), with Yorkshire grit usually seeing off Cecil Duckworth’s millions. Although Exe managed to nick the odd win, with a Chris Malone-fuelled victory at Clifton Lane standing out, Rotherham usually came out on top, no more so than a 34-0 win at the County Ground that marked the 200th match in Dave Scully’s long career (with Tony Rowe having to put on a brave face in presenting Scully with a memento after the game).

These days, Rotherham are less of a force but look on course to avoid the bottom five of ND1 who, if the RFU are to be believed, are destined for relegation at the end of this season. Their results include decisive wins against teams in the lower half of the table, but they’ve struggled against top half opposition with the notable exception of a 32-28 win against the Pirates at Camborne. Last weekend saw Rotherham stuff Newbury 62-5 to climb to 10th in the table.

While many of the names from Roth’s golden age, such as Kenworthy, Earnshaw and Strettle have moved on, their squad includes a few familiar names including Tom Barlow, Neil Chivers and Jon Skurr. Mike Whitehead was rumoured to be a Chiefs target in the summer, while Tinus du Plessis has signed from CABs. I can’t think of any players that have moved between Rotherham and Exeter (but feel free to correct me), with the closest being Gareth Steenson who stopped off in Cornwall on the way.

Rotherham are a side that shouldn’t be written off, particularly if fighting to keep ahead of the drop zone, but Exe should secure a comfortable win and a bonus point.

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