Club captain Jacob Rauluni has urged the Rugby Football Union to give Rotherham's rescue package the go-ahead next week. A local consortium have put together a business plan for the club after approximately £500,000 was raised.

The RFU will consider the proposals before deciding on Wednesday whether the Titans are fit to compete in the National League Division One this season.

Rauluni said: 'It'd be a very big black mark for the RFU from this club and the community if they knock us back after all we've put in.'

The 31-year-old joined his team-mates at the Clifton Lane training ground in long talks over their futures. All players have had to take a pay cut to carry on with their Rotherham careers, and a few are expected to leave.

Rauluni revealed there were times last week when he thought the club was on the verge of folding. He said: 'We had meetings and we were right on the edge, and people thought we were gone. It's been very much a trying time for everybody - for the old board, the investors and for the players. At the end of the day we are rugby players, and this is a very big hurdle for us to get over.'

As a curtain-raiser to the Tri Nations finale in King's Park, Bath lost a tight game to the Natal Sharks, as they continue their build-up to the new domestic season. They got off to a terrible start, with Mike Tindall's charged-down kick gifting Natal a try after 15 seconds. And before they knew it Bath were 17-0 down. But an Olly Barkley penalty and a Brendon Daniel try got them back to 22-10 at half-time. In the second half Tindall's try and Barkley's kicking put Bath ahead, but Natal took a 29-23 win with a late converted try.

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