Titans rise to challenge as they plan to recruit for run-in

The Titans needed to win, having been thrashed by London Welsh a week earlier.

They rose to the challenge and mastered it, not least in the second half during which they overcame a 12-3 deficit.

Four second-half penalties by centre Juan Pablo Socino, adding to his opening strike, set up the win which maintains Rotherham’s position as a top-four side.

London Scottish, whose defence is the tightest in the Championship, lived up to their reputation and prevented the Titans from scoring a try.

However, after dominating the first half in which they punished Rotherham’s careless indiscipline by putting over four penalties, Scottish lost authority.

Rotherham’s recovery in the wet and mud was inspired by a fighting performance from their forwards. Prop Colin Quigley was outstanding and similar efforts were produced by flanker Alex Rieder and second-rows Dan Sanderson and Josh Thomas-Brown.

With Scottish conceding regular penalties, Socino took his opportunities on 43, 55, 60 and 70 minutes. The fightback came in a relentless battle and with Scottish providing the hardest of opposition and Rotherham did not take the lead until 10 minutes of normal time remained.

However, just when it seemed that the victory was theirs, a series of mistakes almost ruined what appeared to be an inevitable outcome.

Rotherham lost the ball at a line-out, they then knocked on and gave away another penalty at a scrum.

In a tense climax, Scottish had possession but met fierce resistance as Rotherham kept their discipline and claimed four invaluable league points, recording their 12th win in 16 Championship games.

The South Yorkshire club now have a fortnight off before they take on the formidable challenge of Bristol at Clifton Lane.

Rotherham Titans: Scanlon, Broadley, Roberts, Socino, Wilson (Keating 67), Murphy, Mulchrone (White 53), Hislop (Gadd 53), Sowrey (Cruse 61), Quigley (Tampin 67), Thomas-Brown, Sanderson, Rieder, Preece,To’oala.

London Scottish: Thompson, Homan, Doneghan (Love 78), Reay, Mantella, Newton, Shaw, Fry(Irish 12), Kwasnicki (Dunn 60), Francis, Spivey (Samuel 60), Lyons, Best, Everard, Bright.

Referee: G MacDonald (RFU).