Castleford Tigers head coach Ryan Carr was very careful in his assessment on the ruck speed in his side’s loss to Wigan Warriors on Sunday.
The ex-Featherstone head coach took charge of his first ever Super League game, and his side performed admirably, but a lapse in concentration for two 10-minute periods, either side of half-time, meant that former Champions Wigan took control of the game, and saw out the result.
The Tigers lost 26-14 to Wigan at the Jungle on Sunday afternoon with Castleford taking the lead early on to the surprise of many. Having only put 14 points past Championship Doncaster in last week’s Challenge Cup tie, the fluidity of the Tigers’ attack was a welcome surprise.
So too was their defensive strength for large periods as Wigan were kept out despite a constant onslaught for the first 30 minutes. That dam finally broke when Liam Marshall got over in the 34th minute with Bevan French’s 39th minute score making it 10-6 at the half.
A quickfire try from Zach Eckersley three minutes into the second half dented the home side, who couldn’t get a true foothold back in the match with ruck speed once again a contentious point.
Unlike other coaches this weekend, who have voiced their opinion, Carr chose to remain objective, and refused to give his verdict on the ruck speed until he had seen a replay.
“I want to watch it back first,” Carr said, after a long pause, to the press post-match. “I don’t want to make a comment to get myself in trouble, but I’ll just watch it back.
“Visually, I have my own opinion on it. I just don’t want to make a comment that I’d regret, so I’ll just wait to watch it back and we’ll get a read on it.
“But, like I said, ultimately, that’s a new area for the game as a whole, so everyone’s got to learn as we go.
“As long as we fix what we’re in control of, I’ll be happy.”
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New recruit impresses Castleford Tigers boss
Something that did impress Carr, however, was the performances of his new recruits. his new recruit, Krystian Mapapalangi’s, performance.
The former Newcastle Knight only joined the club in January, but has made an instant impact since arriving at The Jungle.
He didn’t manage to get over the line, but his defensive efforts were just as important, and he came up with a number of impressive tackles and defensive reads that stopped the Warriors attack.
Commenting on the new man’s efforts, Carr said: “He was really good. He played a really good game. I’m really happy for him.
“He’s taken his opportunity with two hands. Coming over here is a big move, moving away from his family. His partner is still over in Australia at the moment.
“He literally got off a plane, put a jersey on and he started playing for us. I don’t think you would look at Krystian and know he’s only been here for 14, 16 days and he’s only been in our system that long.
“He’s fit straight in. The boys love playing with him. I feel like he’s found a really good home here at Cas and hopefully we can really get his career going where we know we can take him.”
Another man who made his Super League debut was former South Sydney Rabbitohs man Mikaele Ravalawa. The Fijian international had a mixed afternoon, with his new coach saying that the winger needs time to settle into UK rugby league.
“Bull [Ravalawa] had a mixed day,” explained Carr. “He’s always going to do what he’s going to do out of the backfield for us.
“He runs hard, he’s probably just got to adapt to the conditions more so than anything.
“Everything’s just different to the NRL. The pitch, the ball and how wet it can be over here at times.
“We’ve just got to work hard with him on that part of his game, but he’s another one that I feel like I can’t ever knock him for not caring.
“He threw his body in everything he threw in today, which is a great sign for us.”
