What began stirring down at Clifton Lane last season, a buzz of excitement generated by a thrilling title fight and promotion from National Two North, turns out wasn’t just a flash in the pan after all but the start of another magical journey upwards for Rotherham Titans.

For the proud club have used that glorious chapter as a springboard into another march up the leagues, but this time they know their limit, this time there will be no over-reaching.

Thirty-five years ago Rotherham embarked on a run that took them from regional rugby to winning in Perpignan in European competition a decade later.

That remarkable rise which peaked with two seasons in the Premiership prompted a catastrophic financial collapse, one that only bottomed out a few years ago in National Two North.

Looking up again: Zak Poole wins a lineout for Rotherham against the Rams two weeks ago, a game in which they underlined their ambitions on and off the field.

placeholder image — Looking up again: Zak Poole wins a lineout for Rotherham against the Rams two weeks ago, a game in which they underlined their ambitions on and off the field.

Now that they are upwardly-mobile again - winning at unbeaten Richmond today could see them pull to within a point of the summit of National One - thoughts are turning to what might be possible a quarter of a century on.

But this time there is a ceiling.

Nick Cragg, their chairman and a man who along with Martin Jenkinson rescued the club from the financial abyss back in 2004, has confirmed that Rotherham have applied to the Rugby Football Union to be a part of the governing body’s re-imagined second tier for the 2025-26 season.

There are some big names who have applied too - Wasps, Worcester and London Irish, the latest trio to have gone to the wall - meaning Titans would realistically have to win National One this year to strengthen their case for promotion. But by registering their interest, they are at least showing ambition.

Zak Poole in action for Rotherham Titans against the Rams two weeks ago, a game in which they underlined their ambitions on and off the field.

“The Championship is our natural home,” said Cragg of a club that spent much of the 2000s and 2010s in the second tier. “We like it here in National One, but we’d like it back where we came from.”

Asked if they have designs on a return to the Premiership - an increasingly closed shop that only neighbours Doncaster and Coventry have expressed a wish to play in from the current Championship crop - Cragg withers at the suggestion.

“We have no aspirations for the Premiership,” replied the chairman, who began playing for the team in 1966 and was a fan during their rise in the 90s. “We’d be happy in the Championship or National One.

"What happened in the 90s couldn’t happen again. We had an owner who was quick to embrace the opportunities when others were slow. They were playing Wath in 1990 and beat Perpignan in 2000...in Perpignan. Unmatchable in the modern day.”

For now Cragg is happy watching his team tussle with grand old clubs like Blackheath last week and Richmond today.

“It’s an honour to play these illustrious clubs...and beat them,” he quipped.

And they’ve beaten a few clubs this year, 10 out of the 12, most notably the Rams two weeks ago, ending their unbeaten start to the season. Whether they can end the blemish-free record of another table-topper today is not the motivation for Zak Poole, their 27-year-old captain, who is revelling in the club’s rise back through the divisions.

“For me the narrative is definitely changing around Rotherham from an external perspective,” Poole told The Yorkshire Post.

“We’re not the underdogs any more, we’re not the new boys in the league, people are sitting up and taking notice of us.

“The proof of the pudding is Richmond announcing this game as a top-of-the-table clash. Teams are showing us respect.

“But what it also means is we need to up our game because they know what’s coming. Every single week the challenge goes up.”

Last winter’s appointment of Harvey Biljon - who led Jersey to a Championship title - initially as a consultant director of rugby and now cemented in that position, has been key to the Titans sustaining their winning mentality.

“I think the biggest word around Rotherham at the minute is just excitement,” beamed Poole.

“We’re excited every time we put on that jersey and every time we turn up for training.

“Don’t get me wrong, training is not easy, we train hard and Harvey’s philosophy is we train how we play.

“It’s a really good atmosphere and we take nothing for granted, we’re not complacent, we take it session by session, game by game, that’s been the mentality since he came in.

"And as crazy as it sounds, we think we can get even better, that we can impose our game plan and impose our dominance on any team we play.”