Richmond 14 Rotherham Titans 29

After the high intensity challenges of the likes of Worcester and Ealing, Richmond might have hoped for less impactful opponents in visitors Rotherham Titans, promoted from National One this season. If so, they were disappointed, as a huge pack, bolstered by a pair of experienced half backs and two rapid wingers, showed how they have registered four wins out of five this season. By half time, the visitors had a lead of four tries to one and, whilst Richmond did well to draw the second half with one try each, they never looked like turning over the result.

The game was played at an unusual Sunday 4pm time to suit the TV cameras which were covering the game for Blaze TV. Despite that, there was a good crowd, including a loyal block of Rotherham support. Richmond fielded a largely familiar side, with the only two changes featuring the return of Jason Baggott and Xavier Hastings. On the bench, Alex Schwarz was back from injury, and prop Alfie Griffin made his club debut on loan from Bath.

Richmond kicked off on a dry evening after a sharp shower and enjoyed the best of a strong breeze across the pitch. They did not get the start they wanted, a long pass out wide going straight into touch, From the line out, Rotherham spread the ball with some neat offloading and worked their way to the edge of the 22. Richmond defended well but at the cost of a yellow card, an inadvertent hand by skipper Paddy Case proving costly.

Rotherham, who fielded two huge forwards in John Okafor and Lekima Ravuvu, predictably secured the line out ball and the No 8 Ravuvu smashed his way over despite forlorn attempts to hold him up. Lloyd Hayes converted in the swirling wind and Richmond were 0-7 after just three minutes.

Playing a man short for the next ten minutes, Richmond faced quite a challenge against the gargantuan visitors’ pack. However, they held the shove at the first scrum and claimed two penalties at the breakdown to set up five metres out. Fred Hosking secured the line out ball, and the pack drove for the line. Gaining some initial traction, the backs joined in and Will Goffey made no mistake with the touchdown. Callum Grieve added the conversion and Richmond had commendably levelled the scores despite the yellow card.

For another twenty minutes, Richmond clung on in a bruising contest. Jake Monson was everywhere and provided an invaluable tap tackle to prevent what looked like a certain try scoring break by the hefty centre Ali Mgijima. Chris Freeman and Xavier Hastings provided invaluable turnovers and Josh Addams excelled with his aerial dexterity as both sides traded regular box kicks. For Rotherham, Okafor was a very mobile lock, and it needed a determined tackle by Greg Kitson to bring him down after a clear break. Minutes later, Rotherham worked some space on the left to set up a foot chase to the corner. Richmond scrambled back first but could not secure the ball. Welsh winger Ben Cambriani was first to get the touchdown, but the well positioned linesman indicated a knock on.

The relief was brief. Richmond conceded two successive penalties in defence and the Titans took full advantage from close to the line. The well-travelled scrum half JB Bruzulier broke blind and found fly half Russell Bennett on an angled run to the corner, finally beating the hard working home defence with a neat dummy.

Now 7-12 up, the Titans turned the screw and added two more tries in the next ten minutes. Richmond were persisting with their box kicking plan but, with the wind at their back, the Rotherham defence generally had plenty of time to return the kick or set up a counter. After 35 minutes, Bennett duly fielded one such kick in his 22. Setting off up field, he had Cambriani on his shoulder and quickly set the elusive Welsh 7s player accelerating into space. Zig zagging his way through a crowd of players, the winger reached the 22 where he found Okafor, who had remained up field, in perfect position to take the pass and claim the try.

Four minutes later, Cambriani claimed a second try. Richmond now looked rather shell shocked and a marginally overhit kick off was an unfortunate error. Josh Addams was almost away in the next play but was called back for a scrum penalty on half way. Rotherham exacted full punishment. From the 22 metre line out, they again attacked on the short side with the half backs finding full back Isaac Shaw on a line to the corner. Shaw was held out by the cover defence but had the skill to free an arm and throw a pass to Cambriani to dive in at the corner. The half time score was 7-22, courtesy of three missed conversions.

Richmond had a lot to do to get anything out of the game, but they gave it a go. Uncertain of line out possession and, for a while under pressure in the set scrum, Richmond needed to take the legs out of the colossal opposition pack. Several times, Richmond set up chances but individual errors under pressure cost them dear. Addams roamed the field intelligently but could not quite cling on to the few passes which offered a glimpse of open space. Similarly, Kitson made one neat break but lost possession as he was tackled.

Richmond rang the changes in the final quarter. Alfie Griffin came on to bolster the scrum effort, Archie Brosch provided one thumping follow up tackle and scrum half Alex Schwarz successfully added urgency to the back line. After 67 minutes, the Titans finally got their only try of the game. It followed a penalty at the breakdown, and this time Richmond had no answer as the opposition pack mauled their way over the line for a try by Dewald Kotze.

7-29 down, Richmond kept in the contest with Hastings setting the tone. Miles Wakeling followed up well to earn a Richmond penalty. From a five metre line out, Richmond spread the ball and Riman ran a nice line to slip his man and score close to the posts. Grieve added the conversion, and the score was 14-29 with ten minutes to go. This time, Richmond stayed focussed and might well have added a third try. Schwarz was unfortunate with a grubber into clear opposition pace which rolled over the touchline. The pack earned two scrum penalties and right at the end Addams finally hared through a gap and outpaced the two covering defenders who were chasing back.
However, under pressure, the winger opted for a short kick to the corner rather than totally trusting his pace. Referee Jonathan Cook then blew the whistle before there could be any debate over who had the final five metre line out.

Jake Monson was Richmond’s clear man of the match. Now Richmond have a two week gap and the chance to rebuild confidence after what has been a really tough sequence of opening games.

Rob Powell commented afterwards: ‘That was obviously pretty disappointing. We’ve performed well all season and probably not got what we deserved out of the games. But today we were second best in most departments. Fair play to Rotherham. They’ve come here and done a job on us. We must be better than that. We need to take this week off, work hard in it and be ready for Caldy’s visit, as that is now a really big game.’

Team: C. Grieve, G.Kitson, P.Case, T.Riman, J.Addams , J.Baggott, M.Marsh, C.Freeman, W,Goffey, L. Spring, C. Bell, F.Hosking, J. Monson, J.Cardew, X.Hastings
Subs H.Hocking, T.Bevacqua, A.Griffin, H.Wills, M.Wakeling, A.Schwarz, S.Dardis, A.Brosch.

Tries: Goffey, Riman
Conversions: Grieve (2)