Post by Jamie Crawford on Sept 5, 2017 14:27:33 GMT
Round 2 -
We commence the 2018/18 season of home games against local rival Rotherham Titans. The Titans had a season they’d rather forget last season, finishing eleventh; just one point above relegation. The Titans finished fourth just two seasons before that. They will be eager to put last season behind them and return to the upper echelons under new Coach Andy Key, ex-Carnegie. Key, spent over two decades at Leicester Tigers as a player and coach, and was the driving force behind the club’s academy, while also serving as backs coach at Bedford until he eventually moved on to Leeds. “Key and Back were appointed by Leeds in June 2008 following relegation to National League One. They took the Headingley-based side back into the Premiership at the first time of asking and then surprised most pundits by steering their under-funded squad to safety in the 2009-10 camapaign. Key was later named as Guinness Premiership Director of Rubgy of the Season.” (www.espn.co.uk) [Direct quote]
Wikipedia has it the Titans players that have left or joined are:
Players In
England Matt Shields from England Harlequins
Wales Rhodri Davies from Wales Llandovery RFC
England Andrew Foster from England Newcastle Falcons
England James Lasis from England Loughborough Students RUFC
South Africa Rob Louw from Scotland Gala RFC
Ireland Jonny Murphy from Ireland Ulster
New Zealand Tom Burns from England Chinnor
England Drew Cheshire from England Birmingham Moseley
England Luke Peters from England Ealing Trailfinders
England Adam Peters from England Richmond
Australia Byron Hodge from England Bedford Blues
South Africa Brandon Palmer from South Africa Golden Lions
South Africa Wesley Hamilton from Scotland Hawick RFC
Fiji Ifereimi Boladau from England London Scottish
Cyprus Yiannis Loizias from England Loughborough Students RUFC
England Guy Borrowdale from England Leeds Carnegie
England Jamie Cooke from England Hartpury RFC
Portugal Francisco Vieira from Portugal CDUP Rugby
Players Out
England Toby Salmon to England Exeter Chiefs
England Tom Hicks to England Doncaster Knights
Wales Will Owen to England Doncaster Knights
England Ollie Curry to England Ealing Trailfinders
England Ian Williams to England Doncaster Knights
England Jack Hayes to England Cinderford
England Danny Herriott to England Blackheath
England Ricky Cano to England Plymouth Albion
England Buster Lawrence to England Birmingham Moseley
England Charlie Foley to England Doncaster Knights
England Matt Dudman to England Darlington Mowden Park
England Darren Oliver to England Chinnor
England Jack Ramshaw to England Chinnor
Scotland James Tyas to England London Scottish
That’s eighteen in and fourteen out (four to us!) Two ex-Premiership players in, a Pro12 / European Rugby Champions Cup and a Currie Cup Premier Division to pick out four top calibre players coming in.
After our opening against Jersey Reds the Knights are starting with their longbows drawn, lances pointed, swords sharpened and feeling lighter after a traditionally close but positive victory. More important for the Knights is that the opening game highlighted areas to improve upon yet ‘a win is a win’ (except when it’s a 5-point win).
The Titans will be very keen to forget their opening home against Nottingham Rugby.
Last season was a annus horriblis for the Titans who only missed relegation by finishing one point above relegated Richmond. Even the bankrupt and dissolved London Welsh scored five more league points than the Titans and they only played 12 games instead of the full 21. As mentioned in the 2013/14 and 2014/15 seasons the Titans finished fourth and we all know about them reaching the giddy heights of Premiership rugby in 2003/04. Don’t forget that they also topped the league in 2002/03 but weren’t allowed in the Premiership due to Clifton Lane not meeting the Premiership’s minimum ground criteria; they moved to Rotherham United’s ground the next season and duly lost every game to do a reverse yo-yo.
“Rotherham Titans’ hooker Charlie Maddison has praised the impact of the club’s new head coach Andy Key. Key, who was director of rugby at Leeds Carnegie when the club were promoted to the Aviva Premiership in 2009, arrived at Clifton Lane in May following Justin Burnell’s departure.” (www.thestar.co.uk)
Key overhauled the team and brought in 18 new players.
There is no form this season as only one game has been played, that said any form book can be thrown out the window for local derbies because it’s all about playing for pride or bragging rights. The Titans had an awful start to their season after being beaten by the greatest margin in the Championship. Nottingham inflicted a heavy home defeat for the Titans 10-46 last Sunday. This obviously propelled Nottingham to the top of the Championship with the Titans at the opposite end. League positions are irrelevant after just one game but the point is that the Titans will be smarting and eager to prove to themselves and the rest of the Championship that they have improved significantly since last season. What is that saying about a wounded animal? The Knights must be Olympians to beat a local wounded Titan on their new turf.
The Yorkshire Post suggested that the Titans could be a vastly different team needing time to gel. Titans' head coach Andy Key said, “We’re a young side and four games into the season. We now know what it is we need to do and what the standards are.” The title of the article said that harsh lessons were learned from their mauling. Key certainly has the pedigree to turn things around at Clifton Lane, hopefully not too soon!
COYK
DONNY, DONNY, DONNY…
