Two early tries from top scorers Zach Clow and Max Hayman were followed by a second in as many weeks from young scrum-half Ollie Hodgson, Fraser Honey with a simple kick for 17-0 to the hosts.
Second-placed Titans cut the gap before the break with a fine Travis Gordon effort, but it took Rams’ half-time substitute Sam Boxhall just five minutes to secure the try bonus-point against his former club.
Honey added the extras and then a penalty from halfway as the ball hit the cross-bar before falling the right way.
Rotherham responded as Lloyd Hayes converted a Curran Maguire effort, but Rams, whose decision-making and clinicality were a feature of their victory, kept them at arm’s length with a second Honey three-pointer.
The visitors gave themselves a long-shot of snatching something when Ronnie du Randt touched down with eight minutes remaining, but Rams were worthy winners as they snapped their six-match losing streak to move back up to fourth in the table.
‘We wanted to make supporters proud’
Seb started: “In a way it was no different to the performances we’ve been putting out recently, just a different result.
“I’ve always felt the lads have been fighting hard, we’ve had threats and been in every game we’ve played.
“At times we’ve not been clinical enough, but this time we were.
“We wanted to put on a display in respect of Rotherham, because they’re a quality outfit.
“They’re very powerful, they’re pushing for promotion, but we wanted to make our supporters proud.”
Rotherham’s huge pack had proved influential on a wet day at Clifton Lane back in November’s 21-14 loss, but Seb felt there were other factors which helped his side gain revenge.
Praise for pack
He continued: “Our forwards were great moving them around, we had to be on the front foot and the breakdown was key – we did very well there.
“Defensively you have to chop down their big boys in the contact area, and we did it well from the start before Mikey Duda carried it forward with some good jackals when he came on.
“We had to fight to keep the ball alive in possession and make sure their choke tackles didn’t slow us down, and when we didn’t, quick ruck speed was important – I thought both our No. 9s, Ollie in the first half and Boxy after the break, were superb.
“We also made good decisions at good times – going to the corner to build a lead and forcing the pressure on them, before kicking at goal to extend it. We were spot on.”
Still things to work on
Yet while pleased with the win, the DoR believes his side can improve ahead of a trip to title favourites Richmond on Friday, April 4.
He explained: “One of the work-ons will be to try and do what we did in the first half for longer.
“Rotherham were always going to come back at us, but I’d have loved us to continue the high-energy game – there were a couple of moments where I felt we could have attacked again.”
But it was the loyal members of the Ramily who Seb saved his final thoughts for, ending: “We reminded the players at half-time we wanted to do it for the supporters, they’ve kept behind the squad despite us losing six in a row, and it was a great atmosphere.
“I just can’t thank them enough.”
