Harvey Biljon is re-energised by life with Rotherham Titans

Jersey Reds ceased trading last September after Biljon had guided them to the Championship title.

It was a hard time for the South African and when Rotherham approached him in November to come on board as a rugby consultant, he took up the offer on a temporary basis.

Nearly six months on, Biljon is still in place at Clifton Lane with head coach Gareth Lewis and is on the verge of taking the club to its first promotion in 20 years.

"There’s no denying it was pretty tough what happened with Jersey Reds so to come here and enjoy rugby and celebrate it again and be part of something is pretty special,” Biljon told the Advertiser.

"Did I lose my appetite for rugby? There was definitely a couple of moments there where I didn’t know. Taking a couple of steps back has been really rewarding. I want to thank everyone at the club but it’s not about me. It’s about the way everyone here has taken me on board.”

Biljon has the coaching skills to coach at a higher level and whether he is still at Rotherham next season is still to be confirmed.

In tandem with Lewis, he has driven up standards in training and on matchdays and Titans’ relentless consistency, taking in 14 straight wins, has seen them reel in and overtake long-time leaders Leeds Tykes.

​”When I arrived all the players were talking about was catching Leeds,” he said. “So we stopped talking about Leeds and started to focus on Rotherham.

"When you look at the numbers in everything we’ve done you will see the improvement in unforced errors, penalty count, conversions of scores, not letting tries in. It’s been across the board.

"Also, people have been so kind and supportive and welcoming. You also have to look at the players who embraced the change. They immediately started to listen and bought in.

"I haven’t made it easy for them along the way, I can assure you."

Biljon and Lewis have been keen to keep the players’ minds on the job this week ahead of a final match away to Billingham on Saturday (3pm) which they are expected to win.

The team from the North East were only promoted to National Two North this season.

They need a point from the fixture to be sure of staying up and are familiar with their artificial pitch at Greenwood Road.

It is still, on paper, a more straight-forward challenge for Rotherham than Leeds’ final match at home to third-placed Sheffield RUFC. The Tykes must win and hope Titans lose to re-claim top spot and even if both teams finish on level points, Rotherham will go up courtesy of having won more games.

In many ways, promotion would be a just reward after the harsh way the club was relegated from National One on a mathematical formula devised by the RFU when the Covid brought rugby to a shuddering halt in 2020.

It would also be the fitting climax to the club’s centenary season.

Added Biljon: "What I’m happy about is playing my little part to get the club back on track.”