REPORT: Titans crushed by county rivals

In an incredible start the Leeds side banged in four unanswered tries inside the opening ten minutes and hared into a 42-7 lead by the break as Titans failed to find any answers.

But it was a different story in the second period as Leeds took their foot off the gas and allowed the Clifton Lane men to boss possession and claim a four-try bonus point.

But it wasn’t enough to put a smile on Burnell’s face.

“In all fairness they came back and got a point but there were too many little errors and missed tackles. You don’t miss tackles against a side like that because you’ll be punished,” he said.

“We came out with an abundance of enthusiasm in the second half but that’s a bit hard to take because we didn’t do it from the start. It was disappointing.

“You can look at it and say that we came back and got a bonus point but if you can’t start as a rugby team with the same intensity that’s a bit worrying. You want to be a first half team and then if it all goes wrong you can hang in there. There’s no point in coming out for the second half and trying to chase the game.”

It was that dire that that killed off Rotherham almost before the game had got going, full-back Chris Elder breezing through for the opener after just 29 seconds.

Straight from the restart Taylor Prell scored the second and when Jonah Holmes and Lewis Boyce made it 28-0, it was effectively all over for the visitors.

By the break, Alex Davies and Prell had scored again with a pushover try from Tom Williams sandwiched inbetween.

In the second half it was much better from Rotherham’s perspective.

Burnell’s interval rollocking paid off as they hit back with tries from Oli Curry, George Tressider and Tom MacDonald with Leeds responding through Steve McColl and Elder.

Titans now have a week off before their next game, at home to Bedford a week on Saturday, and you’ll find a full analysis in this Friday's Advertiser.