Titans set to strengthen

Injury to forward Dan Smith, who's having a shoulder operation next week, has highlighted how short Rotherham are in terms of quality second-row players to cover for Louis McGowan and James Waterhouse.

Although the Titans won't give details at this stage, another South African forward is on his way to Clifton Lane once contract details have been sorted out.

He won't be the last forward who'll be recruited by coach Phil Werahiko. The club's directors recognise that Roth's uncertain start to their National One campaign is largely because the pack lacks power and experience.

During the Titans' preparations for tomorrow's game at 12th-in-the-table Newbury, Werahiko has been concentrating on improving Rotherham's defence against rolling mauls.

The weakness was exposed brutally in the home match last weekend against Esher who smashed Roth's line three times as they won the line-out and then advanced to score.

"In the games so far, I am pleased with our attacking game because we have created chances and ample opportunities to score, but we need a big improvement in our defence against rolling mauls," said Werahiko.

The Kiwi coach keeps the same first-team squad of 22 which beat Esher for the trip to Newbury, and Werahiko will be keeping his fingers crossed that his latest signing, Wellington forward Cameron O'Connor, stays longer on the field than he did on his debut last Saturday.

Within a few minutes of coming on as a replacement, the New Zealander was sent off for 10 minutes.

The decision to play the same starting 15 means that the new centre partnership of Mark Lawson and Rob Connolly, formerly a flanker, has a second chance to gel.

Newbury, who've won two and lost four league matches, like to play an expansive, attacking game and will run the ball at Rotherham at every opportunity, but the Berkshire side also give away far too many points, on average more than 30 a game.

A high-scoring contest is a probability, so Rotherham's defence will have to be extra sharp. The Titans, whose first-half performance against Esher showed that they were capable of producing some devastating moves, possess the ammunition to beat Newbury, and with new signings on the way the present players have the incentive to prove their worth as competition for places intensifies.

Rotherham Titans: Whitehead, Feeley, Lawson, Connolly, Grissing, Nolan, Hallam, Corsar, Conroy, Boulton, waterhouse, McGowan, Dunlop, Cochrane, McComish. Reps: Sweeney, O'Donnol, O'Connor, Sutton, Chivers, Allen, Blackwood.