Rotherham Titans a team on the up after Leeds Tykes title race brings out the best in them

Rotherham and Leeds have each been on a downward spiral the last decade but they both broke their fall in National Two North this season.

It led to a quite remarkable battle for the title in which both teams swept all before them in the regionalised fourth tier and pinched a win against each other to boot.

Leeds had the advantage all season long until a costly slip at Fylde away in their penultimate fixture was seized upon by the Titans, who closed out the title amid wild celebrations at Billingham on Saturday.

After what has been a positive advert for Yorkshire rugby, Titans captain Zak Poole said: “It’s been some slog and that’s a credit to National Two North as a whole and Leeds as well.

“We both brought the best out in each other and pushed each other along the whole way.

“The pace we both set meant there was no margin for error, you couldn’t slip up anywhere, there was no chance of having the option of an off-day. It would have lost you the league.”

Rotherham only had the initiative for final two weeks of the season but secured the job with away wins at Sheffield Tigers and Billingham.

“That five minutes between the final whistle and the trophy being given to us was a weird one,” admitted forward Poole. “It was like the calm before the storm, that first emotion was just pure relief.”

Despite the fear of what one slip-up could mean, Poole feels Rotherham’s mentality was strong throughout, helped by the fact the players all have day jobs which made training and matchdays so special.

“We’re a close group and a good bunch of mates, as all rugby teams are, so when we’re at work all week rugby is our release,” he said.

“On a Tuesday and Thursday night we go to training and have a good laugh, we train hard and then we play hard on a Saturday.

“Credit to the coaches and everyone behind the scenes for taking that pressure away. This Saturday there was more pressure than was needed, but that was always going to happen.

“We stayed in the moment and we didn’t feel the mental strain or the mental pressure because it was just us doing something we love. Winning becomes a habit and makes it more enjoyable.”

For a club that has twice been in the Premiership and twice nearly went to the wall, the arrow is pointing upwards again with a season in National One to prepare for this summer, with former Jersey Reds director of rugby Harvey Biljon set to continue in his role at the club.

Poole added: “Momentum is massive and we’ll hopefully pick up where we left off with 14/15 wins in a row, playing some nice rugby.

“We can only get better. I feel like we’ll be going into next year with high expectations but once again no pressure on us.

“There is such a vibe and a buzz around Rotherham rugby right now.”

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