Match Report: Saracens v Rotherham Titans

By Roth Admin
December 1 2003

Rotherham Titans lost their 11th consecutive game of the season, going down 29:10 to Saracens. Much was expected from the Titans this week after some recent promising performances, but with a host of players returning from World Cup duty, Saracens had too much ability on the day for the Rotherham.

The game could not have started any worse for Rotherham; they found themselves behind after just 45 seconds. A poor kick from defence by Phil Jones missed touch and Saracens ran it straight back. Full back Richard Haughton made some quick yards supported by Richard Hill and then Thomas Castaignede had the pace to just go over in the corner. Castaignede missed the conversion.

On 7 minutes that man Castaignede was influential again, a clever chip through had perfect pace and weight and Saracens speedy right wing Denis Cech won the race to touch down for Saracens 2nd try. Castaignede converted on this occasion.

The 1st quarter came to an end with a good move down Saracens right wing. A fluent move involving Cech and Randell enabled Thomas Castaignede to go over for his 2nd try of the afternoon. The French fly half converted his own try. It has to be said that Rotherham’s tackling in allowing this try was woeful.

Saracens had blitzed Rotherham in the first 20 minutes – but poor kicking and sloppy tackling had cordially invited Saracens to do so. It would have been rude of them not to.

At this stage it looked as though Rotherham were on for their heaviest defeat of the season. But the spirit of Rotherham which has seen them overcome many tribulations raised its head. You would have got long odds on the final hour being a draw – but that’s exactly what it was. Credit must be given to Rotherham, they did not fold, and they battled well and in patches played some good rugby.

On 27 minutes Rotherham were rewarded for their bravery. Anthony Elliott made a good break down the right and offloaded to Phil Jones who cut through a narrow gap in the Saracens defence. As Jones drew the final tackle Geraint Lewis was on hand to score near the posts. John Benson made the conversion.

Deep in to 1st half injury time Rotherham applied their own pressure. From a penalty they decided to go for touch rather than the points. Maybe it was just out of Benson’s range. From the line out Rotherham gathered and spread the ball infield across the back line. But the opportunity came to nothing as Elliott knocked on near the right hand corner.

Half Time: Saracens 19 Rotherham Titans 7

Five minutes in to the 2nd period Rotherham reduced the deficit to 9 points with a well taken penalty from John Benson. However this was cancelled out just 2 minutes later when Thomas Castaignede converted a penalty for Saracens.

On 53 minutes Rotherham were still in the game and a bonus point looked possible. Then as all teams at the foot of the table seem to find, any luck that is going goes to the opposition. Saracens attempted kick in to the corner was charged down and fell in to space. Saracens World Cup hero Richard Hill charged out of midfield and hacked on. By the time Rotherham’s defence got to Hill it was too late, Hill scored under the posts and Castaignede converted.

That was the end of the scoring and for much of the remainder, Rotherham were under sustained pressure. Rotherham did make the odd foray in to Saracens territory but were unable to penetrate a well drilled defence. Pritchard did chipped through but the ball went dead just before Ewens could get a hand on it for a try. And 3 minutes from time Luke Gross and Johnny Marsters were sin binned for fighting. It was amusing when referee Goodliffe realised he had not got a yellow card. He had to run over to a colleague on halfway to collect one.

Full Time: Saracens 29 Rotherham 10

Overall it was a disappointing performance from the Titans. Rotherham’s head coach Steph Nel would have been particularly concerned with the poor tackling from Rotherham. In addition the kicking in open play was ineffective; Rotherham either failed to find touch or kicked it straight to a Saracens player and invited pressure back on themselves.

Recent Rotherham performances suggested they may have turned a corner, but against a much improved Saracens team it was certainly a step backwards. Rotherham now get a two week break from the Premiership as the next two weekends see them start their campaign in Europe. This Friday evening they entertain the French club Narbonne with the return 7 days later in the south of France. Hopefully without the pressure of Premiership points at stake the Titans can relax and play some fluent attacking rugby – let’s hope so.


Match Referee: R. Goodliffe

Att: 5,680