TOULOUSE OLYMPIQUE coach Sylvain Houles hopes his players’ growing confidence will ‘pique’ at the business end of the season.
The boss was impressed with the composure in an 18-10 victory at Featherstone on Saturday and the “maturity shown by younger players within the group”.
Two more tries from free-scoring winger Benjamin Laguerre were crucial, and Houles was full of praise for young French players coming through the ranks.
He said: “Benjamin is showing maturity at just 24 years old, he is gaining in experience and it is a pleasure to see him develop his career.
“We deliberately chose to reduce the average age of our squad this season to bring a new dimension and it is beginning to pay off.
“We have a long way to go yet but results like this at Featherstone, which has always been a very tough place to play, are giving our players valuable experience which we will need when the season reaches its climax.”
Laguerre’s first-half double, added to a late try by Maxime Stefani, was enough to earn the two points but a sinbinning for Baptiste Rodriguez left a nervous finish.
“We are showing that we can deal with all situations, which is a very good sign,” added Houles.
