ROTHERHAM TITANS 35 BEDFORD BLUES 6
BLUES were today outmuscled in a Championship contest which gave coach Mike Rayer plenty of food for thought as old foes Rotherham slammed in four second half tries at Clifton Lane.
As the season reaches the half-way mark, the result underlined what Bedford have to do to recapture their position as a top-end side as the Titans shrugged off a scrappy first half to put Rayer’s side to the sword.
The Blues had lost by just one point at Clifton Lane earlier in the season in the British and Irish Cup and were optimistic that they could derail the home side’s top four hopes and continue their own haul up the table.
And a solid first half display gave them plenty of confidence, James Pritchard having twice kicked his side ahead with penalties forced by good work from the pack with the front three of Darren Fearn, Charlie Clare and Ben Cooper proving a match for their counterparts.
Pritchard’s efforts after four and 14 minutes were matched by three-pointers from Juan Pablo Socino, who added a third on the half-hour to make it 9-6 to the hosts at the break, although the Bedford skipper was uncharacteristically twice off target with kickable efforts.
That should have been the platform for Blues to build a good second period – but Rotherham had other ideas and, whereas their play in the first half arm-wrestle had been littered with mistakes, they did make it stick in the second.
The Bedford defence, which hadn’t looked like leaking a try beforehand, was prised open for the first time in the 43rd minute.
From a scrum, replacement scrum half Dan White found Newcastle loanee Joel Hodgson and he showed his class by scything through the cover before picking out winger Curtis Wilson, who sped home from 10 metres.
Socino goaled and at 16-6 the Blues suddenly found themselves chasing the game against a Rotherham side whose own momentum had markedly increased.
The effective Hodgson added the second home try six minutes later, finishing off from a White pass, and Socino’s extras meant the Goldington Road men were left with a mountain to climb.
It went from bad to worse on the hour with Titans bossing the scrums and Rayer being forced to throw on replacements Nico Steenkamp and Tomas Gilardon to try and shore up the pack.
It wasn’t a surprise when Rotherham added their third try as winger Michael Keating started the move and after Hodgson and White again combined, he finished it off well in the corner to make it 28-6.
The Blues were repeatedly on the receiving end from ref Steve Lee, with a penalty count twice that of the hosts as they were forced into a string of infringements, while Bedford rarely found their way into the Rotherham 22.
But Rayer will take some consolation from dogged defensive work in the final quarter which kept the home attacks at bay.
It wasn’t until the fourth minute of added time that the bonus point try came, Titans driving a maul to the line before it was pulled down and a penalty try was given to wrap up a good afternoon for the South Yorkshiremen and a miserable one for the Blues.
Article source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/rugby-union/25143369
Rugby Union: Rotherham Titans 35 Bedford Blues 6 - Blues are drubbed on ...
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