Rotherham made it two from two on their return to National 1 with an impressive 45-28 victory at Darlington Mowden Park in front of a crowd just shy of 1,000.
Darlington, who finished 7th last season in this division, were left reeling after the Titans scurried into a 21-0 lead within the opening 20 minutes. Continued pressure and a true cutting edge in enabled the Titans to see out the game strongly despite Park not giving up and gaining a BP of their own. Hayes continues to dominate with his boots, converting all six tries and adding extra points with a penalty. Titans welcome Esher to Clifton Lane this weekend, looking to make it a suprise three leagues in a row, by their own admission!
Over to Wales and the Drovers. Llandovery, who played on Thursday, kicked off the inaugural season of Super Rygbi with a closely fought 21-18 victory at Pontypool. Both teams shared two tries each, and it came down to Pontypool giving away three penalties which undoubtedly sealed the tie for Llandovery. Will Evans, Tight Lock for the Drovers, picked up the S4C man of the match, in a game that was streamed live to thousands.
Will they continue where they left off after a Premiership and Cup double last year? Time will tell. Ebbw Vale made it two for two for Scimitar Super Rygbi teams with a fine performance and a bonus point at the Ciner Glass Community Stadium, beating Aberavon 34-22.
After a host of changes, Aberavon did close to within five points in the second half, although with the final play of the game, Jon Evans went over for the fifth and final try of what was a pulsating match. Over in the new-look Admiral Premiership, Pontypridd got off to a winning start with an impressive 34-19 victory over Bargoed RFC.
It wasn’t all going to plan however, with two tried conceded for Ponty within the first twenty minutes. A penalty and scores from Oli Shepherd, Joe Davis and Cally James got them over the line, along with 12 points kicked from Jacob Synes.
South Gower were away from league action, instead partaking in a Past XV versus Present XV match in honour of the club’s 50th Anniversary at Pwlldu Lane. This weekend, South Gower welcome Neath Athletic RFC to the Lane in WRU Division 3 West Central.
Worcester was looking to make it two from two but lost out to a last-minute drop goal away at Camp Hill in Shirley on the outskirts of Birmingham. They make the trip to Balsall Common next to take on a Berkswell & Balsall who were victorious this weekend.
Berkswell & Balsall’s victory came at Barkers Butts, who couldn’t bounce back from last week’s defeat, despite putting in a much stronger performance. They travel to Bromsgrove next week to face the seconds, looking to pick up their first win of the season.
It was a similar story at Hereford, with their first home game of the season ending in a 12-21 defeat against Edwardians at Wyeside. They travel to Whitchurch this weekend who themselves have had a challenging start to the season with two successive defeats.
In Counties 2 Surrey (London & SE Division), Chipstead followed up on their impressive opening day win over Kingston by travelling to and beating Bec Old Boys to make it two from two. They next welcome first placed Old Caterhamians for what can only be described as a ‘top of the table’ clash between first and second!
Dinnington, who play in the Northern Division, continued their fine start to the season with another strong 32-15 win at Ossett. After a comprehensive 17-52 in the first game against Hemsworth, Dinnington will be looking for another strong performance when they visit Baildon this weekend.
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