Blues cruise in as Calladine blasts Titans’ amateur hour

ROTHERHAM Titans can be extremely grateful there is no relegation from the Championship this season because on current form they look mediocre at best.

In one of their worst performances in recent years, Rotherham were badly beaten by an enterprising Bedford unit which have also struggled in the league.

Bedford, winners by five tries to three at Clifton Lane, were far too fast and repeatedly sliced through the leaky defence.

Indeed, Rotherham’s tackling was often feeble as was their line-out which lost the ball five times. This particular weakness set up two of Bedford’s tries by centre Ollie Dodge and flanker Ben Adams, who was a major force throughout.

This defeat, which followed the serious loss to Yorkshire Carnegie, was described as “unacceptable” by flanker Tom Calladine.

He said: “We were professional rugby players playing amateur rugby in my eyes. We’ve leaked points all over the pitch. It is massively disappointing.

“You give Bedford the ball and they will score. We gifted possession too many times and it’s our mistakes in the line-out because we are not under pressure. It seems to be the same simple mistakes we are making.”

The try bonus point had been gained in the 64th as replacement scrum-half Jordan Burns, who had just come on, rounded off another thrilling attack towards Rotherham’s posts.

Another Bedford star was outside centre Piers O’Conor who completed an excellent performance by scoring his team’s fifth try on 70 minutes.

Rotherham’s first try from centre Will Owen indicated a promising performance, and while there was some improvement in the second half with a try to winger Jake Henry plus a penalty try following solid pressure by the pack, Titans continued to be outplayed.

Bedford coach Mike Rayer, whose side had won only three games beforehand, was delighted with his side who sit a place above Titans in the table.

He said: “I’m not sure when we last won up here. We played some great rugby at times and there were some good finishes in the second half.

“We also had two outstanding periods of defence and that was important because it gave us belief.”