ROTHERHAM TITANS 31-21 ROSSLYN PARK
SATURDAY 7 SEPTEMBER
By RHYS STRATTON
The 1st XV came away empty handed from a tough trip up north to Rotherham Titans.
A back-and-forth first half began as a tense affair before the home side opened the scoring on 12 minutes, thanks to a maul at a 5m lineout which hooker Luke Cole rode over the line.
Just 5 minutes later, Rotherham had the opportunity to set up another driving lineout in the Park final third. This time the pack was able to prevent the maul from gaining any momentum, however the referee deemed Park to have infringed whilst doing so which allowed Lloyd Hayes to step up and convert the chance into points from the tee.
Thankfully, it was Park’s turn to flex their muscles at the set piece soon after as a penalty against Rotherham allowed Steffan James to head for the corner. The pack executed well at the lineout and Jasper Cameron steered the powerful maul over the line for our opening score.
The home side were able to respond quickly through John Okafor, however, as the big blindside picked-and-went after Rotherham had worked it down deep into Park territory to re-establish the 10-point lead.
Park pulled one back soon after thanks to a heads-up bit of play from Charlie Mulchrone when Rotherham were pinged for not rolling at a breakdown on the halfway line. The elusive scrumhalf quickly tapped-and-went to catch the defence napping before beating a couple of men and sending Archie Hosking through a hole. The openside coolly drew the last man and fed the trailing Joe Luca Smith for what was the best score of the day.
Just before half-time, Hayes kicked another penalty to extend the Rotherham advantage to 6 points.
However, early in the second half, Park took lead for first time in the contest as the 1st XV shot out of the blocks and piled on the pressure straight from kickoff. Within a couple of minutes, play had been worked down deep into the Rotherham final third. A few short carries and some pick-and-goes then tested the resolve of the hosts’ defence before a clever snipe by Mulchrone saw the scrumhalf dot down.
The remainder of the second half was a frustrating one for the 1st XV as the home side managed the game well and took advantage of the stilted flow of the match. First, Scrumhalf Jean-Baptiste Bruzulier bought a cheap penalty as he passed the ball into a retreating Park defender before he was able to return onside which allowed Hayes to add 3 more points from the boot. Then, another penalty against the 1st XV allowed Rotherham to set up another driving lineout which resulted in a try for Callum Bustin. Despite losing Bruzulier to the sin-bin in the final quarter, Rotherham survived the subsequent Park pressure and were able to seal the win with yet another penalty by Hayes, his fourth of the day.
ROTHERHAM TITANS
Tries: Cole (12’), Okafor (28’), Bustin (61’)
Conversions: Hayes (13’, 29’)
Penalties: Hayes (17’, 36’, 51’, 77’)
Yellow Cards: Bruzulier (61’)
Rotherham: Capps, Cole, Foster, Poole, Maguire, Okafor, Gordon, Bustin, Bruzulier, Povey, Cooke, Mounsey, Hayes, Tanumi, Randt
Replacements: Bergmanas, Kivalu, Stout, Newborn, Green
ROSSLYN PARK
Tries: Cameron (25’), J. Smith (31’), Mulchrone (42’)
Conversions: James (26’, 32’, 43’)
Penalties: N/A
Yellow Cards: N/A
Team: Pieterse, Cameron, Charalambous, Gillanders, Martin, Bolwell, Hosking, Digby, Mulchrone, James, Marfo, Gordon, Manihera, Walker, J. Smith
Replacements: Cade, Woodward, Stevenson, Fenley, L. Smith
AROUND THE LEAGUE
Birmingham Moseley 40 – 20 Dings Crusaders
Bishop’s Stortford 36 – 12 Leicester Lions
Blackheath 20 – 31 Richmond
Plymouth Albion 24 – 28 Sale FC
Rams 41 – 12 Darlington Mowden Park
Sedgley Park 65 – 24 Esher
In Round One of National League One rugby, Moseley, Bishop’s Stortford, Rams and Sedgley Park all picked up wins at home with the latter two running out as dominant winners against DMP and Esher respectively. Elsewhere, Sale and Richmond got their seasons underway with an away victory, with the latter seeing off Blackheath in a fiery London derby.
Up Next for Park is a derby day clash against rivals Richmond at The Rock. You won’t want to miss it!
3PM KO, TICKETS > https://bit.ly/3WB1zIf