HULL KR 12 TOULOUSE OLYMPIQUE 32
JAMES CHESTNEY, Sewell Group Craven Park, Saturday

HULL KR were condemned to back-to-back defeats as a dominant second-half performance saw Toulouse worthy winners.

The French outfit tore through their hosts, running in five tries after the break to claim their eighth win of the season.

It means just two points now separate the sixth-placed champions and St Helens in pursuit with three matches remaining, albeit the Robins – who chose not to play star Mikey Lewis before his suspension takes effect next week – do still have a much healthier points difference.

This game was level at the break at 6-6, after a first half of limited chances but plenty of penalties with neither side able to put fluidity to their game.

The first real intent came from the visitors when Thomas Lacans put in a kick which Arthur Mourgue looked to have collected but the referee Matty Lynn deemed it a knock-on. Rovers successfully challenged this before a Toulouse penalty failed to reach touch.

The second part of the first half was more lively with firstly Mathieu Jussaume going close before Joe Burgess put the ball dead to concede a goalline drop-out.

But on the back of a penalty Toulouse got the first points when Jussaume left Jack Broadbent on the ground and César Rougé added the conversion.

Five minutes later, the Robins were back on level terms when Peta Hiku charged through the Toulouse defence to find skipper Elliot Minchella on his shoulder and he went under the posts, leaving Rhyse Martin an easy conversion.

Rovers thought they’d taken the lead two minutes from the break when Mourgue managed to ground the ball, but it was sent up and confirmed as a ‘no try’ as it deemed there was an escort in the build-up.

In the first minute after the restart, Olympique attempted to nudge ahead with a penalty-goal after a high shot on John Toleafoa, but the effort by Rougé hit the crossbar and was gathered by a Rovers man on the line.

Instead it took Toulouse 16 minutes of the second half to retake the lead as Benjamin Laguerre broke down Rovers’ right edge to find Roméo Tropis on his inside and the centre outpaced three defenders to ground the ball. Rougé added the extras and Toulouse were on for an unfancied victory.

With 18 minutes to go there was controversy when a chip over by Lacans was collected by substitute Anthony Marion. He looked to have been held up over the line by three Hull KR defenders and the initial call was ‘no try’, only for video referee James Vella to overturn and give Olympique a vital score.

Rougé kicked his third goal of the evening to give his side a two-score lead, which soon become unassailable as Paul Ulberg found his way to the line just three minutes later.

The scoring was rounded off for Toulouse with just over two minutes remaining as Luke Polselli went under the posts, and with Rougé converting for a fourth time they were going to take the spoils back to France.

Rovers did get a consolation try by Louix Gorman with just over a minute to play, Martin adding the extras, but this was Toulouse’s day.

GAMESTAR: Thomas Lacans managed the game well to give his side the victory.

GAMEBREAKER: Two tries in three minutes in the second half by Anthony Marion and Paul Ulberg gave Toulouse that unassailable lead.

HIGHLIGHT REEL: Benjamin Laguerre’s race away to find Roméo Tropis to get Toulouse back in front.

ALBERT GOLDTHORPE POINTS
3 pts Thomas Lacans (Toulouse)
2 pts Roméo Tropis (Toulouse)
1 pt Mathieu Jussaume (Toulouse)

MATCHFACTS

HULL KR
1 Arthur Mourgue
2 Tom Davies
3 Peta Hiku
14 Jack Broadbent
5 Joe Burgess
34 Ryan Hampshire
24 Jack Charles
8 Sauaso Sue
9 Jez Litten
10 Tom Amone
11 Dean Hadley
12 James Batchelor
19 Karl Lawton
Subs (all used)
13 Elliot Minchella
15 Sam Luckley
17 Rhyse Martin
25 Louix Gorman
18th man (not used)
22 Bill Leyland
Also in 21-man squad
4 Oliver Gildart
21 Noah Booth
33 Frankie Dearlove

Tries: Minchella (34), Gorman (78)
Goals: Martin 2/2

OLYMPIQUE
25 Luke Polselli
5 Benjamin Laguerre
19 Roméo Tropis
39 Ethan Quai-Ward
2 Paul Ulberg
6 Thomas Lacans
29 César Rougé
8 Lambert Belmas
9 Brendan Hands
10 James Roumanos
11 Maxime Stefani
12 Mathieu Jussaume
15 Joe Cator
Subs (all used)
13 Anthony Marion
20 AJ Wallace
30 Tiaki Chan
40 John Toleafoa
18th man (not used)
27 Hugo Garrigues
Also in 21-man squad
22 Henry O’Kane
28 Mathieu Pons
31 Victor Collin

Tries: Jussaume (29), Tropis (56, 72), Marion (62), Ulberg (65), Polselli (77)
Goals: Rougé 4/7

SCORING SEQUENCE: 0-6, 6-6; 6-12, 6-18, 6-22, 6-26, 6-32, 12-32

Rugby Leaguer & League Express Men of the Match
Hull KR: Jez Litten; Olympique: Thomas Lacans

Penalty count: 7-9
Half-time: 6-6
Referee: Matty Lynn