Yorkshire Carnegie
Roth set for Titanic Struggle?
Sure to face old club
By Nat Hawthorne
January 2 2009
This season the Titans face a formidable Carnegie team who are sitting pretty at the summit of the National Division one table with eighteen wins out of eighteen and eight points clear of nearest title rivals Exeter Chiefs with 84 points. There have been fifteen previous encounters between Leeds and Rotherham teams, with Rotherham’s wins outweighing Leeds' by 8 to 7.
The last time the Titans travelled north to Headingley was in the 2006/2007 season and was the last home game of the championship winning campaign. In this game, tries from the Titan’s Errie Claasens and now Carnegie player Erik Lund coupled with 22 points from Gareth Steenson’s boot were enough to beat efforts from Jon Dunbar, Mike MacDonald and 14 points from Leigh Hinton in a 32-29 win for the visitors. That game finished of a tremendous title race, which would have been decided by the derby game were it not for the Titans slipping up two weeks prior to this against Doncaster Knights, whilst Leeds defeated Otley 40-12 at Cross Green.
The Titans, however, have suffered a dip in form since then and could only manage an eleventh placed finish last season and are lying in ninth place in the current National One campaign, 46 points behind the Tykes on 38. The Titans do, however, have a good attack and, bearing in mind some teams have played a game less than others, they have amassed the fourth highest points total in the league with 519. The defence seems to be the weak spot though for Rotherham as they have the sixth worst record in the league after having conceded 493 points.
The Rotherham team sheet looks very different to when Tykes fans cast their eye over it last. Key players from that runners-up squad have left Clifton Lane in search for higher rugby not least the Tyke’s Erik Lund, South African back-rower Hendre Fourie, prop Adam Hopcroft and ex-Titans captain and scrum-half Joe Bedford. In addition to these players, other key absentees have been fly half Gareth Steenson who now plies his trade with the Exeter Chiefs having spent last season at the Cornish Pirates, number eight Jannie Bornman who last season was on Plymouth Albion’s books and hooker Neil Hanna, who earned a contract with Ulster. They do however still have some good talent amongst their ranks. South African winger/fullback Errie Claasens continues to shine in a claret and blue shirt while watch out for Mike Whitehead at fullback, a good counter-attacker, defensively solid and makes good yardage with the boot.
Aside from the aforementioned ex-Roth players, current Leeds players Jon Pendlebury and Lee Blackett, the latter as captain, have both enjoyed spells with the South Yorkshire outfit, as have ex-Leeds players, Colin Noon and John Holtby.
With squad rotation in full swing amongst the Leeds camp it is difficult to predict what team will take to the Headingley field for the high-flying Carnegie men, especially following a good display from some fringe players such as James Brooks and Andy Boyde in the Boxing Day 66-10 defeat of Otley at Cross Green. However, with strength and experience in all positions it will no doubt be a squad capable of building and improving on the 41-24 win away at Clifton Lane back in late September. In that game two tries apiece from Scott Armstrong and Hendre Fourie along with one each for Rob Rawlinson and Alberto Di Bernardo who also kicked eleven points was enough for Carnegie to travel back North with all five points.
However the team sheet reads for the big Yorkshire derby, I’m sure it will be a hotly contested match and hopefully the Tykes can secure all five points again and march on further towards the Premiership!
Enjoy the game!
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02/01/2009 12:10
