Rotherham Titans 12 Bedford Blues 11: Sanderson proving a colossus as his career spikes

For just six years ago the 29-year-old Rotherham Titans lock had never played rugby and spent his days as a plasterer.

Competitive at most sports and tall enough at 6ft 8ins to stand out in a crowd, he went along to the Sporting Giants programme developed as part of the London 2012 countdown and was identified as a future sportsman – in volleyball.

After a year spiking balls in the national programme, during which time he progressed from a group of 200 down to five, he was eventually told he was not tall enough to continue.

Bitten by the sporting bug, he fell into rugby because his friends invited him along to a Sevens festival.

“They sold it to me on the fact that there was a barbeque and a few beers afterwards, so I thought ‘what’s the worse that could happen?’,” said Sanderson, who initially began as a winger.

“I ended up playing 15s but that was only in the Midlands Five, a division you couldn’t even get relegated from.

“Luckily, I got picked up by Derby and this is now my fourth year playing professionally.

“The volleyball was just something to do, so I didn’t have to be plastering all the time.

“I just went along to see what I could have a go at. I was one of those kids at school who was okay at everything but never excelled.”

This late developer is now starting to excel in the Titans second-row, where his height proved vital on Saturday as Rotherham opened their British and Irish Cup campaign by grinding down Bedford.

Sanderson and his fellow forwards have seen the team’s back division take the plaudits for the club’s bright start to the new season.

For the first three games, when 19 tries were scored, the headlines were positive, but when they came unstuck against London Welsh last week, that ambitious nature proved their undoing.

Seven days later, with the seasons having changed as the rain lashed across Clifton Lane, Rotherham had to show they could go back to basics.

In a performance full of commitment and common sense, the Titans took the penalty points that were on offer to them and managed the clock in a disciplined manner.

Serial promotion contenders Bedford may have been lacking in confidence after an unusually slow start to the campaign, but Rotherham’s pack never gave them the chance to build on an early lead earned through Darren Fox’s try from a catch and drive.

That lineout was supposed to be the Blues’ strength, but between them, Sanderson and second-row partner Barney Maddison stole six lineouts to continually deprive Bedford’s backs of possession.

Allied with the tenacious work around the breakdown by flanker Jack Preece, who repeatedly forced turnovers, Rotherham laid their own platform for victory.

Juan Pablo Socino was the man to kick the points, connecting on four of his seven penalty attempts.

Bedford’s James Pritchard was not as accurate, landing only one penalty with Jake Sharp’s drop goal on 54 minutes giving the visitors a slender 11-9 lead they could not defend.

Socino’s fourth kick on the hour from 35 metres edged Rotherham into a one-point lead they protected sensibly.

“It was really fun out there,” beamed Sanderson afterwards, as a pint of bitter was handed to him.

“I think everyone thinks we’re a fancy team now with flash backs that will pass it around, but today we showed we can win it in the forwards and play any game.

“As much as you love seeing backs scoring try after try, you’ve still got to get them the ball. A lot was said about how the Welsh forwards beat the Rotherham backs.

“You take that personally, so it was nice to come out and put a marker down. It wasn’t perfect but it shows we’re not a bad pack ourselves. It’s a young squad and we want to play fast, but often it comes down to game management.”

And it was that aspect of their performance that so delighted head coach Lee Blackett.

“We righted a few wrongs from the previous week,” said the 30-year-old. “We’d worked during the week on game management and these conditions really tested that.

“That’s the most pleasing game for me, especially the last 20 minutes. We managed the game really well, we played in the right areas against a tricky wind, made the right decisions when to run and when to kick. People who think Rotherham can only play one way are wrong. We think in these conditions we can be at our best.”

Rotherham Titans: Keating, Broadley, Roberts (Hayes 56), Socino, Wilson, Murphy, White; Dias (Williams 58), Sowrey (Cruse 67), Tampin (Stout 75), Maddison, Sanderson, Birch (Freeman 61), Preece, Pearce (Rieder 61). Unused replacement: Mulchrone.

Bedford Blues: Le Bourgeois, Dodge, Stanley, Atkinson, Pritchard, Sharp, Veenedaal (Baldwin 74); Auterac (Fearn 68), Clare, Boulton, Howard, Gulliver, Armes (Harding 52), Fox, Vandermolem (Tupai 14). Unused replacements: Spurling, Cooper, Burke.

Referee: C Evans (Wales).