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HULL KR 12 TOULOUSE OLYMPIQUE 32 JAMES CHESTNEY, Sewell Group Craven Park, Saturday HULL KR were condemned to back-to-back defeats as a dominant second-half performance saw Toulouse worthy winners. The French outfit tore through their hosts, running in five tries after the break to claim their eighth win of the season. It means just two points now separate the sixth-placed champions and St Helens in pursuit with three matches remaining, albeit the Robins – who chose not to play star Mikey Lewis before his suspension takes effect next week – do still have a much healthier points difference. This game was level at the break at 6-6, after a first half of limited chances but plenty of penalties with neither side able to put fluidity to their game. The first real intent came from the visitors when Thomas Lacans put in a kick which Arthur Mourgue looked to have collected but the referee Matty Lynn deemed it a knock-on. Rovers successfully challenged this before a Toulouse penalty failed to reach touch. The second part of the first half was more lively with firstly Mathieu Jussaume going close before Joe Burgess put the ball dead to concede a goalline drop-out. But on the back of a penalty Toulouse got the first points when Jussaume left Jack Broadbent on the ground and César Rougé added the conversion. Five minutes later, the Robins were back on level terms when Peta Hiku charged through the Toulouse defence to find skipper Elliot Minchella on his shoulder and he went under the posts, leaving Rhyse Martin an easy conversion. Rovers thought they’d taken the lead two minutes from the break when Mourgue managed to ground the ball, but it was sent up and confirmed as a ‘no try’ as it deemed there was an escort in the build-up. In the first minute after the restart, Olympique attempted to nudge ahead with a penalty-goal after a high shot on John Toleafoa, but the effort by Rougé hit the crossbar and was gathered by a Rovers man on the line. Instead it took Toulouse 16 minutes of the second half to retake the lead as Benjamin Laguerre broke down Rovers’ right edge to find Roméo Tropis on his inside and the centre outpaced three defenders to ground the ball. Rougé added the extras and Toulouse were on for an unfancied victory. With 18 minutes to go there was controversy when a chip over by Lacans was collected by substitute Anthony Marion. He looked to have been held up over the line by three Hull KR defenders and the initial call was ‘no try’, only for video referee James Vella to overturn and give Olympique a vital score. Rougé kicked his third goal of the evening to give his side a two-score lead, which soon become unassailable as Paul Ulberg found his way to the line just three minutes later. The scoring was rounded off for Toulouse with just over two minutes remaining as Luke Polselli went under the posts, and with Rougé converting for a fourth time they were going to take the spoils back to France. Rovers did get a consolation try by Louix Gorman with just over a minute to play, Martin adding the extras, but this was Toulouse’s day. GAMESTAR: Thomas Lacans managed the game well to give his side the victory. GAMEBREAKER: Two tries in three minutes in the second half by Anthony Marion and Paul Ulberg gave Toulouse that unassailable lead. HIGHLIGHT REEL: Benjamin Laguerre’s race away to find Roméo Tropis to get Toulouse back in front. ALBERT GOLDTHORPE POINTS 3 pts Thomas Lacans (Toulouse) 2 pts Roméo Tropis (Toulouse) 1 pt Mathieu Jussaume (Toulouse) MATCHFACTS HULL KR 1 Arthur Mourgue 2 Tom Davies 3 Peta Hiku 14 Jack Broadbent 5 Joe Burgess 34 Ryan Hampshire 24 Jack Charles 8 Sauaso Sue 9 Jez Litten 10 Tom Amone 11 Dean Hadley 12 James Batchelor 19 Karl Lawton Subs (all used) 13 Elliot Minchella 15 Sam Luckley 17 Rhyse Martin 25 Louix Gorman 18th man (not used) 22 Bill Leyland Also in 21-man squad 4 Oliver Gildart 21 Noah Booth 33 Frankie Dearlove Tries: Minchella (34), Gorman (78) Goals: Martin 2/2 OLYMPIQUE 25 Luke Polselli 5 Benjamin Laguerre 19 Roméo Tropis 39 Ethan Quai-Ward 2 Paul Ulberg 6 Thomas Lacans 29 César Rougé 8 Lambert Belmas 9 Brendan Hands 10 James Roumanos 11 Maxime Stefani 12 Mathieu Jussaume 15 Joe Cator Subs (all used) 13 Anthony Marion 20 AJ Wallace 30 Tiaki Chan 40 John Toleafoa 18th man (not used) 27 Hugo Garrigues Also in 21-man squad 22 Henry O’Kane 28 Mathieu Pons 31 Victor Collin Tries: Jussaume (29), Tropis (56, 72), Marion (62), Ulberg (65), Polselli (77) Goals: Rougé 4/7 SCORING SEQUENCE: 0-6, 6-6; 6-12, 6-18, 6-22, 6-26, 6-32, 12-32 Rugby Leaguer & League Express Men of the Match Hull KR: Jez Litten; Olympique: Thomas Lacans Penalty count: 7-9 Half-time: 6-6 Referee: Matty Lynn