Leeds Rhinos head coach spoke positively after his side’s 48-24 win over Toulouse Olympique with Brad Arthur happy with how his club reacted after conceding an unanswered 24 points.
The Rhinos looked set to cruise to another comfortable win and whilst the scoreline may suggest that was the case, it simply wasn’t. After opening up a 30-0 lead inside 35 minutes, Toulouse scored 24 unanswered points to come within six points and set up a nervous final 20 minutes.
When speaking post-match on Sky Sports, Brad Arthur was asked what his immediate thoughts were at the time with his answer surprisingly being excitement.
Arthur admitted: “I was excited about the challenge. They were playing with a big energy, everything was sticking, and the bounce of the ball was going their way.
“I was really excited to see right up where we’re at, how can we get back on top of this game? Can we show some composure, or do we panic?
“Full credit to the boys, they showed composure, led by Jake, and we didn’t panic. That just shows another evolution in our game, and a bit of growth in our game.”
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As Arthur mentioned, Jake Connor was the general throughout with the reigning Man of Steel registering five assists but he also took the control of the game back with his kicking.
On Connor, Arthur said: “He understands the game very well, and he really appreciates his role. I think sometimes, at the moment, I’m into him a bit about he’s putting the team before him all the time, which is great, but I don’t want him to lose his run threat.
“I want not selfishness but for him to play a bit more for himself too. In terms of his focus and his control for the team, and really knowing what the situation is and what’s needed, that’s been first-class, so it’s a credit to him. When he’s thinking calm and he’s just worrying about himself, there’s nothing better.”
The heat also played a big factor in the game and at times it saw Leeds play both Danny Levi and Jarrod O’Connor at the same time, something that the Rhinos boss explained as a ploy to protect and save his big body forwards from the heat.
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Arthur explained: “I felt at the time the heat was playing a bit of a role with our big guys, so I didn’t want to have too many big guys through the middle, because I was going to put Cooper on, and then I thought that’s going to be three big guys just before halftime, and then start the second half.
“I just did two guys that are a little bit lighter, can get around the field a bit better, and just take a bit of pressure off those guys, because we needed the changes at the end of the game.”
Arthur again referenced the heat when he looked ahead to next week’s game against Warrington, stating that a week of recovery and fixing up their defence is ahead of them.
“It was pretty hot here today, so I think recovery is going to be really important for us, getting ourselves ready for Warrington. We had two scrums there that just got our systems wrong, and for mine, they’re pretty soft tries, and we need to be better there.”
The Rhinos come home from France with the league points after a fright from Toulouse at the start of the second half
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Toulouse Olympique 24 – 48 Rhinos pic.twitter.com/HbsHFO2J33— Leeds Rhinos (@leedsrhinos) June 12, 2026
