“We were in a world of pain yesterday” – Jamie Jones-Buchanan’s thoughts on Leeds Rhinos loss 24 hours later

Yesterday, Jamie Jones-Buchanan’s coaching debut didn’t go according to plan.

Taking charge of his home town club trying to get them back on the right track after five defeats from six and Richard Agar’s decision to step down, the Leeds legend was unable to turn things around as the Rhinos were blown away by Castleford to end their cup run at the first hurdle.

It was the first 40 that did the damage as Leeds went into the break 28-0 down with boos ringing out around Headingley. However, Leeds showed great character in the second half even winning the second 40 and for a moment looked capable of mounting a comeback.

It wasn’t to be and a “quite emotional” Jamie Jones-Buchanan spoke about the “habitual” and “cultural” problems at the club after the game clearly hurt by the loss. But 24 hours later what were his thoughts?

Previewing Barrow vs Huddersfield on BBC, Buchanan spoke about his thoughts following the defeat.

“We were in a world of pain yesterday,” he said live on BBC Two, “I’ve got to deal with the expectation of myself, my home town club that I love. As a coach I understand where we’re at and where we need to go. It’s not going to happen over night.

“I watched Josh Warrington win his World Title back last night and I’m now in the heartland of rugby league and the world’s a different place. I’ve spent a lot of time this morning talking with the staff about how we fix that going forward and building things in Super League but yeah it was disappointing.

“We need to do everything together and with a smile on our faces and that’s prime directive number one.”