After an eight year absence, Rotherham Titans will be relishing their long-awaited return to Elior Champ Rugby this season.
The Yorkshire club spent that time in the National League 2 and Nat 1, from which they were promoted as champions last season, pipping Blackheath and Plymouth Albion to the title.
Their extraordinary resurrection has been led by director of rugby and former Wasps player Harvey Biljon, who will seek to draw on the club’s storied history in this division.
Newly-signed fly-half Russell Bennett said: “It's a club full of good people. I spent a bit of time there last season and really enjoyed my time.
“It's a club with a lot of ambition that are going in the right direction. All the facilities are going in the right way.
“There's plenty of history around Rotherham in the championship. But for us this year, it's all brand new.”
The Titans rapidly rose through the leagues in the 1990s, eventually breaking into the Premiership for two separate seasons, becoming the first Yorkshire team to do so.
Upon their relegation in 2004, they became stalwarts in the second tier, but that run eventually came to an end in 2018. Now, they’re back.
Bennett said: “There are a lot of new boys to the league. So it's a case of putting our best selves out there every week and seeing where we end up at the end of it.
“I've been in the league during Covid and post-Covid, and it does feel like the league's growing again. Whether we're back to the same levels as we were before Covid, I'm not sure.”
South African flanker Travis Gordon has joined the ranks, bringing experience of the United Rugby Championship to a dressing room that is largely unfamiliar with the English second tier, though Bennett’s arrival from keen rivals Doncaster is a welcome tonic.
Gordon said: “The Champ has changed plenty since Rotherham were last there. It's nice to be coming back into this league with a proud history.
“For the short time that I've been across in the UK, what has been highlighted is the Yorkshire region and trying to get rugby back to the levels which it should be at.
“So having Doncaster in the league, developing the grassroots around that and continuing to grow rugby in the areas is massive for us.”
Biljon has received plaudits for his sterling work with Jersey Red and now Rotherham, fostering exemplary work ethic among his part-time squads.
And for Bennett, that environment can be conducive to excellency.
Teams will also get the opportunity to feature on free-to-air TV and reach new audiences this campaign after a deal was reached with Hearst Networks (BLAZE) to show games on Sundays.
He said: “I've been in both full-time and part-time teams and I think there's obviously pros and cons to both. I think the big thing for us culture-wise, is we've got a really tight group. Everyone's enjoying their rugby at the moment.
“We have to be diligent with things away from the club that perhaps other teams would do at the club. But it's not daunting. We're a club that's going to go into every week as confident as the previous week and the future weeks.
“Yorkshire is probably the one part of the country that's lacking a little bit of presence in the rugby world for its size. The derby game will be one of many fixtures that are important to us. But hopefully it will be a good spectacle.”
Played by professional and semi-professional players, Elior Champ Rugby provides a ‘Proving Ground’ for future stars. Watch every game live on Clubber TV and free-to-air on BLAZE on Sunday afternoons.
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