Rotherham Titans ready to tackle pursuit of Leeds Tykes as Sheffield Tigers eye winning return

For Rotherham Titans captain Zak Poole, the start of 2024 brings the chance to maintain the same ruthless form his second-placed team have enjoyed so far during this National League Two season.

First on the cards following the festive interlude is this Saturday’s visit of seventh-placed Sheffield Tigers to Clifton Lane.

The Titans feel more than ready for the challenge. “They’re the only team we haven’t played,” Poole told The Yorkshire Post. “We know we’re not far apart, we know their coach, we know a lot of players, and we know what they bring.

“Credit to Sheffield Tigers. They’re having a great year, so we won’t take them lightly. Saying that, there’s definitely a buzz around our camp that they’re coming to our place and we’re going to blow them away.”

Such fighting talk is merited by Rotherham’s glorious recent run of form.

Since suffering their first loss of the season in a 26-20 defeat to league leaders Leeds Tykes in late November, the Titans have achieved two resounding victories.

In both fixtures, they have restricted opponents Preston Grasshoppers and Wharfedale to seven points apiece while scoring over 30 points themselves.

Poole revealed that such formidable defensive work is due to a fresh focus on tackling.

He added: “We just wanted to tighten up on our discipline and I think everything else has followed.

“We’ve always had a strong defence, but with the new tackle height we were giving teams too much field position by giving penalties away and then letting them into our half.

“We defend very well but there’s only so long you can defend in your own 22 before you concede.

“Because we’ve always backed our defence, rather than keep trying to improve the defence what we’ve done is really focus on dropping that height.”

This work, however, is not enough for Poole. As such, he only has one New Year’s resolution in mind.

“We just want an 80-minute performance,” he said. “That’s where we really will put a team to bed.

“We’ve had some great performances, but still to now I don’t think we’ve put it together for 80 minutes, that would be the only thing.”

For visiting side Sheffield Tigers, the short trip from Dore comes after two consecutive defeats at the hands of Tynedale and arch-rivals Sheffield RUFC.

For director of rugby Jack Howieson, the latter fixture was mainly a matter of tight margins.

Following the loss, he said: “Performance wise I didn’t think we were too bad. Obviously the scoreline didn’t go our way.

“It was quite a high intense game as a derby, and I think there were just some key moments where they came up with the goods.

“We just need to be more clinical and smarter in those situations. Although we’re massively disappointed, we haven’t played badly.”

The 33-24 defeat, which saw Sheffield climb to third for the first time this season, meant the Tigers dropped down to seventh as they suffer from an ongoing injury bout.

Despite this, Howieson is satisfied with what he has seen from his first team so far this season and hopes the new year will bring about further positivity.

“A top-six finish is our target from the start of the year and we’re still (close to) maintaining that despite a few weeks when we’ve not hit our standards,” added Howieson.

“We just want to maintain what we’re doing, pick up a few more wins and keep performing well.”