Ill-discipline and a lack of care with the ball in hand proved fateful for Huddersfield Giants as they slipped to a defeat against fellow strugglers Toulouse Olympique.
The Giants had an opportunity to draw level on points and wins with Toulouse but they fell to a 11th Super League loss in 13, with the French side winning 36-16 in comfortable fashion.
Jim Lenihan watched his side lose 52-0 in his first game in charge but after a week off due to the Challenge Cup, this was his first true game in charge and a response was expected.
Sadly for the Huddersfield fans, that response was not forthcoming with the Giants going behind inside four minutes thanks to a Henry O’Kane try with O’Kane then scoring late on to cement what was a miserable day for Huddersfield.
The Giants were able to welcome back a host of key players with the standout being George Flanagan, who was making his first appearance since March. With Niall Evalds a full-back, Flanagan moved into the halves with other notable returnees for the Giants, including Connor Wrench and Tom Burgess, however, those returning players made little difference as the Giants slipped to a heavy defeat.
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Huddersfield Giants miss huge opportunity
Jim Lenihan will have drilled into his side all week that they needed a quick start and that gameplan went out of the window early as Huddersfield went behind inside four minutes.
Henry O’Kane’s opener came off the back of a seven-tackle set with the forward getting to the grubber kick ahead of Niall Evalds. Huddersfield would quickly hit back through Joe Greenwood but the rest of the first half was all about Toulouse as they piled on the points.
Paul Ulberg scored next before Matthieu Jussaume scored the first of his two after Brendan Hands nailed a 40/20, with Ethan Quai-Ward then scoring to make it 24-4 before the half hour mark.
George Flanagan would pull one back before the half to offer some hope but it was Toulouse who scored first in the second half as Jussaume beat Flanagan to the kick, effectively sealing the result with half an hour to play.
Jacob Gagai scored a brilliant try but Henry O’Kane’s second stretched the Toulouse lead to 36-16 with less than ten minutes to go, with the defeat ensuring that Huddersfield remain rooted to the foot of the Super League table.
The Giants are two points adrift of York Knights and four points shy of next week’s opponents Hull FC and today’s victors Toulouse Olympique.
