West Country Wills Match Preview Round 21 Taunton Titans vs Clifton

Taunton Titans head into the last 6 games knowing that the chances of promotion back to National League Division One are all, but mathematically over. Last Saturdays defeat to Cinderford all but confirmed that we will be remaining in National 2 West for the 2025 / 2026 season with the final result Cinderford 34 – 21 Taunton Titans.

This Saturday’s visitors to Veritas Park, Clifton, remain in the hunt for promotion and arrive in Somerset fresh from a home win against Redruth 39-28 which saw them remain on the tail of Camborne. They are in second place and 6 points behind Camborne in the National Division Two West table. Titans, on 67 points, are a further two places behind in fourth with Cinderford leap frogging Titans into third spot. Focus now for the remaining games of the season will surely be to finish strong, within the top three, and make it known that we are serious contenders for promotion back to National One next season.

The final notable point on the Titans season so far, is that they are still unbeaten for all home games at Veritas Park. Again, showing to all visiting teams that Veritas Park is one of the most difficult places to pick up points during their away fixture schedule.

A famous old name in West Country rugby, Clifton is Bristol's oldest club, and one of the oldest in the world. Clifton Rugby Club was formed on 27 September 1872 at the Kings Arms on Blackboy Hill in Clifton, Bristol. Both pub and club are still going strong. Amongst their alumni are front row internationals Ellis Genge, Mark Regan and Mako Vunipola as well as Callum Sheedy of Wales and Italy’s Callum Brailey. Taunton Titans know Clifton well from their previous stay in National League Two. The current Head Coach of Clifton is former Bristol captain, Matt Salter, who also bridged the rugby codes and played league for London Broncos.

When the two teams met at Station Road in November a late brace of tries from Rocky Prose – who was only denied a hat-trick by the referee awarding a penalty try for the first of the three times the winger crossed the whitewash – rescued both a losing and a four-try bonus for Titans against a Clifton side that finished with thirteen men. However, the Bristolians were never really at risk of losing the game and had it in the bag by half-time when they led 28-7. It was to the credit of Taunton’s perseverance that they reduced the deficit to a 33-26 loss.

In Counties 1 Tribute Western North, Taunton Warriors will be at home on the evening of Friday 07^th against Chard. This is free entry fixture, so why not join us under the lights and view some potential futures Titans, showing of their skills.

Kick-off for Titans against Clifton at Veritas Park on Saturday is at 3.00pm. Entry is £15 for adults and free for Under-16s. Parking at Veritas Park on Hyde Lane costs £5 and, providing the weather has not been too wet, there will be free parking across the road in the overflow.

The legendary two-course carvery is simply not worth missing out on. For any enquiries please contact the club office on 01823336363. For those turning up for kick-off, there will be hot pasties and coffees from the Proper Cornish pasty van and there will be three bars open.

Taunton resident and rugby lover, Richard Kitzinger writes content for Taunton RFC’s club website and match-day programmes. His day job is writing Wills and Lasting Powers of Attorney - he can be found at www.westcountrywills.co.uk or reached on 07504 991893.

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