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Titans bank on return of star man du Plessis
Rotherham's best forward this season, Namibian flanker Tinus du Plessis, returns to the Clifton Lane side for this Saturday's Championship game at Plymouth Albion, where the Titans are under pressure to bounce back following their poor performance at Ayr last Friday.
Du Plessis has been away for a month playing for his country in World Cup qualifying matches against Tunisia but now that he is back, along with Canadian international Adam Kleeberger, also a back row forward, coach Craig West is able to strengthen his pack for the Plymouth game.
Considering that Rotherham and Plymouth are both in the relegation zone, this Saturday's clash at Brickfields is of huge importance, which is why West is stressing in the training sessions, starting this evening, the importance of learning the lessons from the defeat by 28 –13 at Ayr in the British and Irish Cup.
As Rotherham prop Ben Prescott says: "We made too many unforced errors. Ayr wanted it more than us and afterwards Craig West was very upset. He said we had embarrassed ourselves and the supporters who had travelled up to Scotland.
"The Plymouth game is massive for us. There's no reason why we can't win down there, like we did last season. We beat them at Clifton Lane in September and we must start winning games away, particularly against those teams who are similar to us, such as Plymouth, Moseley and Coventry. The return of Du Plesssis and Kleeberger is a big boost for us and with Tinus back in the side, we should be able to cut out silly errors."
Plymouth, just one place behind Rotherham in the Championship and with the same number of wins - four from 11 games - have been surprisingly disappointing so far this season.
Interestingly, as West studies the videos from Plymouth games, he will see that their best results have come against stronger sides.
Beating Nottingham 31-25 at Brickfields and London Welsh 24-12 at Old Deer Park were decent performances and indicate that Rotherham's pack, which is expected to be reinforced by the return of Gregor Hayter on Saturday, needs to show the same commitment that overcome Doncaster earlier this month if they are to win at Plymouth.
One of the few players to emerge with any distinction in the cup match against Ayr was full back Ben Coulbeck, the try scorer.
In his first senior appearance for the Titans after impressing in A team matches, Coulbeck attacked the Ayr line and looked good going forward. As West puts his 22 squad together for the long trip to Plymouth on Friday, it may be hard to leave out the former Manchester player after such a promising display.
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Weather for Sheffield
Thursday 09 February 2012
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