Interim boss Andy Last was left “bitterly disappointed” in his Hull FC side’s efforts in defeat to Toulouse Olympique yesterday afternoon.
The Black and Whites lost out 12-4 to the French side, in what was an underwhelming affair from both sets of teams, but it was Toulouse who came away with the spoils.
No points were scored in a second-half that didn’t show anywhere near the best of both sides’ games, but the result comes as a reality check to Last, who’s first game back as interim boss went extremely well after a 50-10 win over Castleford Tigers.
Tom Briscoe scored the home side’s only try of the game, crossing in the right corner, however FC will see that game as a huge missed opportunity for points if they are to be competitive come the end of the season.
Offering his verdict post-match, Last said: “It wasn’t a great game to be a part of. We got a great crowd in and we didn’t give them any great moments to get behind us and sing. I’m really disappointed with the performance, especially considering what we spoke of all week in terms of attitude.
“I thought we dipped our toes in. They got 12 points in front and they got the confidence. We were just unable to knock that out of them.
“I thought the game lacked a bit of flow. There were lots of stop-starts, and the way that we played, we lacked fluidity and we lacked speed; it was just disappointing on the back of a good performance last week, where we looked sharp.
“This was a flat performance and there’s a lot to work on.”
Criticising FC’s attacking ability, he said: “We had 46 play of the balls in the opposition half, which is a massive amount. We just didn’t pose a big enough threat.
“We played too laterally, I felt, and playing laterally in those conditions, you lack a little bit of detail in your shifts because the ball players aren’t digging into the line as much as they need to be.
“That allows the defending team to map off and when they map off, it ends up being one on one a lot of the time.
“They are the small details we need to be confident in those wet conditions to still keep digging into the line to preserve the space. We just didn’t do that well enough. The spine, in particular, wasn’t as fluent and on the same page.”
The interim boss couldn’t work out why FC had been so strong in training all week, off the back of such a positive win at Castleford, only to then fail to execute when it mattered most.
He said: “I felt like we prepared well and the messaging was good in terms of attitude and showing the opposition respect, but for whatever reason, the final part of the week, the eighty minutes, which is the most important part of the week, we just didn’t nail. I’m bitterly disappointed.
“Good players turn up every week. And I think we’ve got too many who believe and think they are good players but they don’t deliver week in, week out. And the really good ones do.
“What we’ve got to do is strive to make sure our players are aware that the good ones turn up every week. We had too many today that were 4/5 out of 10 and we need to be 7 or 8 out of 10 to get the two points.”
Hull FC coach issues Connor Bailey update
The Black and Whites look to have suffered another injury, with back rower Connor Bailey leaving the field just six minutes into the contest.
The former Wakefield and York Knights man has been a consistent signing for Hull this season, but they are now set to be without him after what sounds like a serious injury.
“It looks like he’s fractured his clavicle,” Last revealed. He did that in the first contact of the game.
“He will go to A&E and have an X-ray. Hopefully, he’ll get some positive news but it looks like he’s fractured his clavicle.”
