Christmas break just the tonic for Rotherham Titans after strong year

2024 was the club’s best year since it was fighting it out near the top of the Championship under Andre Bester and Lee Blackett.

Rotherham played 27 matches across the calendar year, winning 24 of them.

That record carried them from second place in National Two North to the league title and now to third place in National One.

"There has been a huge amount of growth in the playing squad,” acknowledged director of rugby Harvey Biljon, such a key part of the progress.

"If I go back to January, the realisation of promotion wasn’t totally down to us but what we could address we did by getting results and winning bonus points and giving ourselves a shot.

"The challenge of National One has been great. We’ve exceeded expectation and you have to give a lot of credit to the players and the support team. The players have embraced the step up to the next level.

"I think there is a buzz around Rotherham and an excitement not only in the club but on the outskirts of the club. That stands out the most for me as well.”

Such has been the quality of the coaching at Clifton Lane and the number of capable operators in the ranks, they’ve been able to keep up the momentum despite injuries.

“Through this last part of the year we’ve been able to roll through without members of the squad,” said Biljon.

"When you think of the likes of Callum Bustin, Ellis Thomas, Frankie Gascoigne, Aidan Shortall, Aiden Ollivent – and there’s more – a lot of those guys just aren’t available and we’ve been able to rotate through and continue to get results. That’s really important.”

Thanks in part to a first defeat of the season for Richmond last week at the hands of Rosslyn Park, Titans will go into the new year just four points behind the leaders and three off second-placed Rams.

First though comes a rest.

"Do we need it? I think we do,” added Biljon. “It’s a well deserved break because the players have trained hard.

"We have a little bit of a Christmas programme in place for them, things to follow at home, and then we’ll be back ready for the new year.”