This was our worst performance since the drubbing inflicted on us by Wakefield 2 years ago,but this time I am stru ggling to find any crumbs of comfort.Our forwards were completely dominated by a fitter,faster and much more skilled opposition pack .We had to resort to lying on and foul play at the play the ball,and were very fortunate that none of our players got sin binned.We were also very fortunate to only lose by 28 points.When we had the ball our play was beset by constant unforced errors.The top and bottom of it is that the new recuits a not as good as the players we have lost-though the jury is out on Aiton and Broughton.When Pryce was sin binned we

I think having Escare at FB, Gigot at centre and Inu on the wing could've at least reduced the deficit. Yaha was constantly exposed and left in no-man's land.

We also have to acknowledge that Hull FC are a very good team and played a near flawless game. But the defensive set up didn't help and made it easy for them alongside the usual penalties and errors.

Yeah I mean Inu to the wing could work there are a few viable options, Yaha is only young he needs to drop down a level and work on his defence, give him a few years and he will be brilliant.

But yeah I agree Hull were fantastic, I can't see any other forward packs matching theirs.

Anybody got Willie Mason's phone number?

Wow. That was bad.

Sorry, can`t agree.

Mark Mini Cheddar

Why should one presume that Escare would have improved the defence.The tries stemmed from our forwards failure to slow down theirs and from their focus on our right wing where the ever fatter Yaha was very poor.We did not actually concede any of the ultra soft tries characterised by missed tackles that distinguish Escare. Gigot made one terrible knockon, which led to nothing, but otherwise, performed bravely and did not make any serious errors. To say it again, our forwards were outclassed and outskilled. What can we do about that?

And another thing....The French fans seem to think that Taylor is an excellent acquisition. If one measures it by having a four stone overweight wrecking ball, who can function well for about ten minutes, they have a point. If one measures it by any test of skill or stamina, or above all, defensive positional sense - Taylor kept on running out of our defensive line to no effect in terms of stopping the attack, and to much effect in terms of enabling our line to be broken - he is a disastrous acquisition.

Because Escare being in the team would've allowed Gigot to play in the centres and Inu on the wing, which was a solid enough combination that won a lot of games last season and probably wouldn't have been exposed in the way that Inu and Yaha were. And 'ultra soft tries' or not, the team was never flogged by that scoreline at home with Escare there. If Escare was having to make tackles then that means the line has been broken and that's a problem in its own right, constantly blaming Escare for every try is like blaming the goalkeeper in football every time a goal is scored and ignoring the defensive mistakes from all the other players that led to the situation.

Gigot also did miss one very soft tackle leading to a crucial try in the first half, and on many occasions the team was crying out for someone in the middle to back up Horo, which Escare would've provided. But I'm not blaming Gigot, I would just like to see him moved back to the position that he was so effective last year and we can stop this myth that Escare is the cause of the poor defence.

We shall have to agree to disagree.

I should have said that Horo had a terrible game yesterday.The line was broken many times yesterday without it leading to a try.That's because Escare was not there.

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Collectively, the defence was poor. Sika Manu's try, for example.
We miss Hendo more than we realise. Not just as a defender, but as an organiser of defences.

Spot on about Henderson. I used to hate it when I saw he was playing against us. A real pain in the bum for us, but a massive boost for you lads.

If Aiton was playing we would miss him less but without either of them, it really showed.