CHINNOR Head Coach Dan George is calling on his side to learn from their second-half performance against Rotherham Titans on Saturday.

The team were beaten 26-24 in the third tier of English rugby as they fell to a first home defeat of the season.

Chinnor have slipped to seventh position in National League One table but remain within six points of leaders Richmond.

Tries from Jason Worrall (2), Ofisa Treviranus and Sam Yawayawa helped the the side, who picked up two bonus points in the defeat, lead 24-18 at the break.

Rotherham opened up a two-point advantage within seven minutes of the second half, before a dogged defensive effort prevented the hosts from making the most of their possession and territory.

George said: “In the first half we played some of the best rugby I’ve seen here in the last 18 months, and to put in a second half performance like that is very frustrating.

“Credit where credit is due to Rotherham. They came here with a specific game plan and executed it well.”

George added: “We tried to score too often off the first two or three phases as opposed to building an attack, but that's just something we have to learn from and if we do have to go through phases, be comfortable looking after the ball.

“We showed in the first half, when we went four, five, six phases, that we were able to create opportunities.

“In the second half we managed to get over three phases twice, so it’s just little things like that we need to progress and develop within our game.”

Treviranus, Yawayawa and Worrall crossed to put Chinnor 17-6 in front after 29 minutes but there was a frantic end to the first period.

Rotherham scored two tries in as many minutes to go a point ahead, but the hosts struck again through Worrall to make it 24-18.

George added: “Their second try was just a mental lapse from the kick-off - one missed tackle and the guy broke through.

“To concede 14 points in the space of two minutes was very frustrating from a defensive point of view, but we’d put ourselves back in a good place at half-time.”

  • CHINNOR were unable to overcome a stubborn defensive effort as they were beaten 26-24 at home by Rotherham Titans in National League One.

The visitors twice came from behind to become the first team to triumph at Kingsey Road this season.

Chinnor took the lead on six minutes when Ofisa Treviranus was driven over for an unconverted try, before Sam Hollingsworth’s penalty got Titans on the scoreboard.

The hosts made it 10-3 when Sam Yawayawa dived over in the corner, but another Hollingsworth penalty kept the visitors in touch.

Chinnor had been the better side and extended their advantage to 11 points when Jason Worrall burst through, Laurence May converting.

An all-action end to the half ensued, with Titans taking a surprise lead thanks to tries from Tomas Bacon and Connor Field, Hollingsworth converting the latter.

Chinnor were not finished however and secured the four-try bonus-point on the stroke of the first period when Worrall dived over for his second, May adding the extras.

Titans started the second half well and quickly overturned a 24-18 deficit, thanks to Bacon’s unconverted try and a Hollingsworth penalty.

There was still more than 30 minutes left but, despite enjoying more possession and territory, Chinnor could not breach a resolute defence.