TITANS

This Weekend

v
Titans v Albion
Saturday 25 October
K.O. 3 pm
(re run DVD Thursday 7pm)
also
Warriors v Esher
K.O. 2:30
and
Ladies v Hove
Sunday 2pm

Titans

Last week Rotherham played Manchester away and won 54 to 35, their forth successive win. Rotherham have won 4 and lost 4, leaving them 7th in the table – only 1 point above Albion, Rotherham were recently were deducted four league points after fielding an ineligible player (Barry Jacobsz) during the game against Leeds and Esher. Rotherham accepted the RFU ruling and have no plans to appeal against this ruling

Rotherham have only won once at Clifton lane this season, which may give Albion the edge although Rotherham will have the advantage of home support. Although due to distance there may be limited support from Albion supporters, as far as I know there will be no supporters ‘bus’ travelling. Rotherham’s average gate is 1494, which is less than half of Albion’s average gate of 3632

As for the players, the main one to look out for if Chris Briers (centre), who joined Rotherham from Sedgley Park in August this year and has played every game this season and scoring 5 tries so far, although Chris has been sin binned once this season in the game against Bedford.

Other players to look out for are Eric Claassens, who scored 3 tries against Manchester last week bringing his total to 6 tries. Bradley Hunt and Mike Whitehead, who have scored 3 tries each so far, although Tinus Du Plessis has scored two tries he has also been shown 2 ‘yellows’, and Jon Skurr who has a record of one try and a yellow card. Other try scorers are Jon Feeley and Gregor Hayter. Rotherhams kicker Tom Barlow scored 19 points last week with his boot, so he’ll be a player to look out for as well

Rotherham’s 5 yellows against Albion’s 3, so keeping discipline it may prove an advantage to Albion

Ciders prediction – Albion win by 4 points 

Thanks CD for your input, so who is going to write next week's??

If you are not able to travel to Rotherham on Saturday why not come along to watch the DVD on Thursday night from 7pm.

ALBION

 Frank's best guess Squad for Saturday

Martin

James

Jane

Sean-Michael

Mike

Arthur (c)

Mike

Gareth

Greg

Kieran

Justin

Keni

Arran

Liam

Nat

Bench

Tom

Matt

Ross

Ryan

Danny

Kyle

Jamie

With David Palu out for a while Matt Newman sees a sec second bench position. I am hoping that Liam will be back to fitness to enable him to start and with Nat performing well last week I see him getting the nod ahead of Tom Jarvis.

Gareth Evans played an outstanding game last week and is my early tip for player of the season. I keep him at 8 but would use him to cover for James at 2 leaving a space for Trips on the bench.

This is also the last time for a few weeks that Sean and Justin are available for selection as they get their call up for Canada.

Ross had his best  game with the boot against Combined Services on Tuesday night kicking 5 from 5! However I would keep faith with Kieran at the 10 position against Titans.

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Last meetings of clubs

 

08 March 08
Rotherham 34
Plymouth Albion 22

Attendance: = 809

After a win two weeks a go in the National Trophy many thought that this was going to be a walk in the park and particularly with Titans bad form.

Team: Nat Saumi, Ed Lewsey, Arran Cruickshanks, Ross Allen, Nic Sestaret, Brad Davies, Nigel Cane, Gareth Evans, James Owen, George Davis, Colin Stewart, Tom Hayes, Chris Lowrie, Brett Stroud, Jannie Bornman Replacements: Emyr Lewis(used), Daniel Hawkes, Keni Fisilau(used), Scott Zimmerman(used), Richard Oxley(used), Kyle Marriott(used), Mike Denbee(used)

Scorers :- Tries Ed Lewsey Nat Saumi Nigel Cane Penalties Brad Davies Conversions 2x Brad Davies Sin Bin Mike Denbee

 

23 February 08
Rotherham 8
Plymouth Albion 19

Team: Nat Saumi, Ed Lewsey, Arran Cruickshanks, Keni Fisilau, Nic Sestaret, Brad Davies, Nigel Cane, Tim Mathias, Richard Oxley, Scott Zimmerman, Colin Stewart, Tom Hayes, Adam Kettle, Brett Stroud, Jannie Bornman Replacements: Emyr Lewis(used), Ross Allen(used), Kyle Marriott(used), George Davis(used), James Owen(used), Chris Lowrie(used), Gareth Evans(used)

Scorers :- Tries Adam Kettle Brett Stroud Nat Saumi Conversions 2x Brad Davies

 

03 November 07
Plymouth Albion 15
Rotherham 0

Attendance: = 2695

Albion are back to winning ways coming in with a 15 - 0 win.

All but two penalties within kicking range were kicked for the points and 5 out of six went between the posts.

Ed Lewsey made yards a number of times off the back of the scrums, rucks and mauls but the team was unable to get any benefit of them.

Albion gave a way few penalties and made use of the times Rotherham did. Titans spent the last few minutes trying to get over the Albion line without success.

Rotherham did not seem to be the side that had done reasonable well last season and for the second week running failed to trouble the scorer.

Team: Emyr Lewis, Liam Gibson, Arran Cruickshanks, Brad Davies, Nic Sestaret, Ross Laidlaw, Ed Lewsey, Tim Mathias, James Owen, Steve Barretto, Tom Hayes, Ben Gulliver, Chris Lowrie, Brett Stroud, Jannie Bornman Replacements: Nigel Cane, Wihan Neethling, Richard Oxley(used), George Davis, Mike Lewis(used), Colin Stewart, Adam Kettle(used)

Scorers :- Penalties 5x Ross Laidlaw

 

10 March 07
Rotherham 35
Plymouth Albion 27

Attendance: = 1328

Albion start well on a bright March afternoon with a slight cross wind.

Albion took the first 10 minutes or so with a try for Nic before Titans got into the match. Graham Dawe had said that Albion must start well and they did but allowed Titans to come back to lead 22 - 13 at half time. Not before Regardt had picked up a drop goal and a penalty.

The first 15 minutes or so in the second half was quiet until Titans pulled ahead 25 - 13. Albion stayed in the game and defended well for most of the half.

With only one minute of normal time left Albion were 30 20 behind then took the score to 30 27 with a second try to Nic, his 21st of the season, and Regardt converted with a drop kick.

Albion were still in it in the last play of the match when the ball was dropped in the Titans 22. The kick clear by Titans enabled them to take a run away try and all the spoils of the match.

Team: Nat Saumi, Tom Arscott, Regardt van Eyk, Keni Fisilau, Nic Sestaret, Ed Barnes, Ed Lewsey, Tim Mathias, Richard Oxley, Scott Zimmerman, Mike Lewis, Tom Hayes, Brett Stroud, Danny Thomas, Chris Lowrie Replacements: Matt Newman, Arran Cruickshanks(used), Wihan Neethling(used), Andy Williams(used), James Owen(used), Dan Smith(used), Jake Childs

Scorers :- Tries Ed Barnes 2x Nic Sestaret Penalties Regardt van Eyk Drop Goals Regardt van Eyk Conversions 3x Regardt van Eyk

 

04 November 06
Plymouth Albion 14
Rotherham 11

Attendance: = 2964

To day predications of this result said it was going to be close and it was.

The game was played wide and at a fast pace with Nic Sestaret scoring his 7th try of the season early on. Albion defended well apart from early in the second half when Rotherham took the scores to 11 – 11. But Wihan quickly retook the lead with a penalty.

The manicurists will certainly be doing business when they open on Monday as I expect that many fingernails will have been bitten short.

When Nigel Cane came off in the first half Tom Arscott came on and Ed Lewsey moved to the scrum half role.

The result was in doubt right up to the final whistle as Rotherham drove closer and closer to the line but when the ball eventually went over the ref judged the ball to have been held up and blow up for the 5 metre scum before the final whistle was blown, much the relief of the Albion fans

More ...    Opponents Report

Team: Wihan Neethling, Ed Lewsey, Regardt van Eyk, Keni Fisilau, Nic Sestaret, Ed Barnes, Nigel Cane, Martin Rice, Richard Oxley, Scott Zimmerman, Colin Stewart, Ben Gulliver, Federico Genoud, Danny Thomas, Tom Hayes Replacements: Jon Fabian, Arran Cruickshanks(used), Tim Mathias(used), James Owen, Chris Lowrie, Tom Arscott(used), Brett Stroud

Scorers :- Tries Nic Sestaret Penalties 3x Wihan Neethling

 

28 January 06
Plymouth Albion 15
Rotherham 14

Attendance: = 2905

Team: Luke Arscott, Nat Saumi, Regardt van Eyk, Keni Fisilau, Nic Sestaret, Ed Barnes, Nigel Cane, Martin Rice, Stewart Pearl, Scott Zimmerman, Nic Rouse, Brett Luxton, Chris Lowrie, Danny Thomas, Tom Hayes Replacements: Sam Leung Wai, Matias Albina(used), Jon Fabian, Ryan Hopkins(used), Graham Dawe(used), Brett Stroud, Mike Lewis

Scorers :- Tries Regardt van Eyk Tom Hayes Penalties Nat Saumi Conversions Nat Saumi

 

24 September 05
Rotherham 35
Plymouth Albion 30

Attendance: = 1120

Team: Nick Defty, Nic Sestaret, Keni Fisilau, Luke Arscott, Jon Fabian, Ed Barnes, Matias Albina, Martin Rice, Stuart Friswell, Ryan Hopkins, Nic Rouse, Tom Hayes, Martin Schusterman, Danny Thomas, Alfie Tooala Replacements: Nat Saumi(used), Nigel Cane(used), Graham Dawe(used), Scott Zimmerman(used), Regardt van Eyk, John Henry Brown, Chris Lowrie

Scorers :- Tries Keni Fisilau Martin Rice Martin Schusterman Nic Rouse Penalties Nat Saumi Nick Defty Conversions 2x Nick Defty

 

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National League One Data

League Table
		P	W	D	L	F	A	dif	TF	TA	BP	Pnts
1	Leeds	8	8	0	0	351	82	269	51	8	7	39
2	Chiefs	8	7	0	1	368	97	271	49	10	6	34
3	B Blues	8	7	0	1	319	93	226	41	8	6	34
4	Nott'ham	8	7	0	1	242	136	106	32	15	5	33
5	Welsh	8	6	0	2	200	158	42	23	16	2	26
6	Knights	8	5	1	2	223	164	59	26	19	4	26
7	Albion	8	4	0	4	185	172	13	20	19	3	19
8	Titans	8	4	0	4	260	240	20	34	29	5	17
9	Pirates	8	3	1	4	186	171	15	25	18	3	17
10	Moseley	8	3	0	5	183	234	-51	21	32	4	16
11	Esher	8	3	0	5	138	245	-107	17	31	2	14
12	Cov	8	3	0	5	126	199	-73	16	24	1	13
13	Tigers	8	2	0	6	152	328	-176	18	46	2	10
14	N Blues	8	1	0	7	77	261	-184	8	34	1	5
15	Otley	8	0	0	8	120	316	-196	13	46	3	3
16	Man	8	0	0	8	124	358	-234	11	50	3	3

ADJUSTMENTS

Rotherham Titans -4 points
Back row forward Barry Jacobsz effective registration with the RFU expired on 18th Sept 2008 yet the player was included in Rotherham's match squad for 2 matches.

 

Points by type & Discipline Record
Team	Tries	Cons	Con Rate	Pens	Drop goals	Pen try	Yell	Red
Albion	20/18	15/10	75	17/17	2/2	0/1	3/7	0/0
Titans	34/29	24/19	71	14/19	0/0	0/0	5/2	0/0

This table shows the for and against for each team. eg Tries 74/17 is 74 tries scored and 17 conceded. Con Rate is the percentage tries converted.

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Next Fixtures

Saturday 25 October
Coventry	v	Manchester
Esher	v	Leeds Carnegie
Exeter Chiefs	v	London Welsh
Newbury Blues	v	Otley
Rotherham Titans	v	Plymouth Albion
Sedgley Tigers	v	Doncaster Knights
Sunday 26 October
Cornish Pirates	v	Moseley
Nottingham	v	Bedford Blues

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Side by side
Gate 1494 avg 2021 max	Gate 3386 avg 6871 max
Form home w l l away w w w l l	Form home w l l w w away w l l
Best home game 47 - 23 Moseley Worst away game Tigers 20 - 12	Best home game 47 - 6 Man Worst away game Nott'ham 43 - 19
Most points in a match 24 Tom Barlow Man 35 - 54 Titans	Most points in a match 16 Kieran Hallett Albion 26 - 17 Moseley
Most tries in a match 3 Eric Claasens Man 35 - 54 Titans	Most tries in a match 1 Arran Cruikshanks Nott'ham 43 - 19 Albion Otley 16 - 31 Albion Gareth Evans Albion 14 - 41 Chiefs Otley 16 - 31 Albion Albion 26 - 17 Moseley Keni Fisilau Otley 16 - 31 Albion Nott'ham 43 - 19 Albion Albion 47 - 6 Man Liam Gibson Albion 47 - 6 Man Geoff Griffiths Albion 47 - 6 Man Albion 24 - 25 Welsh Kieran Hallett N Blues 19 - 11 Albion Ryan Hopkins Albion 13 - 5 Cov Tom Jarvis Albion 26 - 17 Moseley Justin Mensah-Cover Otley 16 - 31 Albion Albion 47 - 6 Man Greg Nicholls Albion 47 - 6 Man Martin Rice Albion 24 - 25 Welsh Wayne Sprangle Albion 47 - 6 Man Albion 24 - 25 Welsh
Recent results   Man 35 - 54 Titans Pirates 28 - 32 Titans Titans 47 - 23 Moseley Esher 32 - 59 Titans Titans 24 - 41 Leeds Knights 28 - 22 Titans Titans 10 - 33 B Blues Tigers 20 - 12 Titans	Recent results   Albion 26 - 17 Moseley Albion 14 - 41 Chiefs Otley 16 - 31 Albion Albion 24 - 25 Welsh N Blues 19 - 11 Albion Albion 47 - 6 Man Nott'ham 43 - 19 Albion Albion 13 - 5 Cov
TRIES 6 Chris Briers Eric Claasens 3 Bradley Hunt Mike Whitehead 2 Tom Barlow Neil Chivers Tinus Du Plessis Jon Feeley Gregor Hayter 1 Ryan Burrows Chad Erskine Hugo Horn Barry Jacobsz Louis McGowan Jon Skurr	TRIES 3 Gareth Evans Keni Fisilau 2 Arran Cruikshanks Geoff Griffiths Justin Mensah-Cover Wayne Sprangle 1 Liam Gibson Kieran Hallett Ryan Hopkins Tom Jarvis Greg Nicholls Martin Rice
Kicking Points Con DG Pen Points Tom Barlow 22 - 13 83 Mike Whitehead 1 - 1 5 Jon West 1 - - 2	Kicking Points Con DG Pen Points Kieran Hallett 10 2 9 53 Ross Laidlaw 5 - 8 34
Discipline SinBin Chris Briers Tinus Du Plessis (2) Ben Prescott Jon Skurr	Discipline SinBin Arran Cruikshanks Keni Fisilau Sean-Micheal Stephen

 

 

Warriors

Warriors v Esher 2:30 Sat

After  good performance against a very strong Combined Services side on Tuesday night Warriors may have a few selection problems as they compete with the first tem for players.

Cory Moore is likely to start at scrum half with Matt Newman taking a place on the bench in Rotherham. The Newman family will probably be represented by Tommy at fly half.

Wihan may be the senior player in the squad as he seems unlikely to impress the club enough to regain his position in the first XV. That is despite his solid performance on Tuesday and outstanding performances in other second team appearances. 

With Wihan in the squad it gives Mark Lee a challenge with his early starts gave him the kicking duties and he collected points with the boot and on the run in the form of tries.

Esher have played 4 matches against Warriors 2 in the Canterbury Shield. They have only had one match at home but have won 2. They beat Ealing at home 36 - 10 and Glamorgan Wanderers 34 - 24. They were not so lucky against Richmond and London Scottish but the will be a strong side for the Warriors.

 

Ladies

Ladies v Hove 2pm Sun

The ladies are back in action at Brickfields on Sunday against Hove after their disappointing result in Southampton against Trojans two weeks ago. Whilst they did run in 3 text book tries they were sucked into the Trojans game plan who came out winners 44 - 20

"Big Gav" is expecting a strong pack from Hove, who are yet to record a win this season. He is hoping that Albion will put in a good

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