Toulouse, the double penalty – midi-olympique.fr
Dominated by Hull FC on Friday, Toulouse brings up the rear again in the Super League, as Wakefield won at Castleford. six days before the end of the championship, the maintenance becomes compromised.
After the previous exit from the road against Salford, a legitimate reaction was expected from the side of Olympic Toulouse. The reception, Friday evening, of Hull FC, training in search of a second wind, was an opportunity to redeem themselves and keep the very precious eleventh place, the one that offers maintenance. But the Toulouse were deluding a quarter of an hour, the time to open the score by the third line James Cunningham. Then the evening turned into a nightmare. As the clock swallowed the seconds, the people of Toulouse were more spectators than actors in the debate. The English did not ask for so much, to take the initiative of the game by the excellent hooker, Danny Houghton, their master to play. Before the break, the Airlies Birds logically took the lead (10-6). Ten minutes after the restart, the temporary dismissal of hooker Anthony Marion complicated the task of the Olympians a little more. In numerical superiority, Hull sounded the glass of local hopes with a double prowess from winger, Joshua Simm (22-6), before the hour mark. At this point in the game, the fate of the game was more than tied.
The TO lost a match that it did not, so to speak, play. Afterwards, the Olympian mentor, Sylvain Houlès, had difficulty in hiding his disappointment and his immense bitterness: “Like last week against Salford, we weren’t good. Our discipline was catastrophic. Like last week, we make mistakes that are unforgivable in the Super League. Hull won because he was driven by the desire to win. On our side, it has completely failed us. I am very disappointed and my disappointment is more than legitimate. »
Three trips on the program
A couple of hours later, the disappointment was even greater, with the announcement of Wakefield’s victory at Castleford (32-6). Conclusion: Toulouse is back behind and now finds itself two points behind Wakefield with a lower goal average (-199 against -202 for the TO). A real double jeopardy. Mathematically, maintenance is still possible but the path is still strewn with pitfalls with a program punctuated by three successive trips (Thursday to Hull KR then Warrington on August 12 and Wigan on August 19). Three high-risk trips for a team that is no longer in control of its destiny. “We still believe in maintainingsupports hooker Anthony Marion. Anyway, as long as there is hope from an accounting point of view, we will hang on. We are going to prepare for the next trip to Hull KR with the desire to win. »
For that, it will be necessary to put deeds into words and above all to play with another state of mind because on Friday, Toulouse made their worst copy since the start of the season.