Huddersfield away. See you there

Squad:

Mead, Broughton, Williame, Langi, Casty, Moa, Anderson, Garcia, Bird, Bousquet, Simon, McIlorum, Tierney, Jullien, Maria, Gigot, Goudemand, Drinkwater.

Hudds have Cudjoe available for the first time this season

Mamo, McGillvary, Cudjoe, Turner, Murphy, Gaskell, Brough, Ikahihifo, Leeming, Hinchcliffe, Rankin, Roberts, Clough, Smith, O'Brien, Mellor, McIntosh, S Wood, English.

Semi-finals, incidentally, will both be held at Bolton's stadium in Horwich. Sunday 5 August. Double-header.

Played well i thought, lacking abit of attacking threat but heart was there, you could hear a pin drop in the stadium, hopefully be different for the semis.
Kenny Edwards is going to be a big character if we can get the best out of him.
Impressed at how we have ground out wins in the last 5 or 6 games, i think Drinkwater has completely changed this team around from the shambles we was at the start of the season.

What an utterly minging game.

Hudds were awful, and we were little better. Conservative, ultra-negative stuff in the McNamara mould. One out stuff from soup to nuts. Mind-numbingly tedious. But that's to be expected with playing, essentially, seven forwards. Bird was no threat - has he passed his best? If we're going to give McIlorum spells, there needs to be a hooker on the bench and it's not like we don't have any. Ben Garcia has many qualities, but dummy half play is not one of them (also, nasty cannonball for his thoroughly warranted yellow card).
Edwards was enthusiastic at least while Casty was excellent. But the whole team looks to be playing within themselves and that can only be direction from the coach. It's rugby from 15-20 years ago and it's boring. Oh for someone to encourage that French style of footy - promote the ball, spread it etc.

In short, McNamara out.

Oh, and Brayden Williame. Flew home in the week after the death of his grandmother, arrived back at midday before the flight out and played the full match, largely on the wing after Broughton went off. Above and beyond, that.

As well as Broughton's injury, I saw Bousquet leaving the ground with a boot on his left leg.

Couldn't find anywhere to watch in sunny Brittany but enjoyed the result immensely.

The outcome was a lot better than the process

Saw the match in Malta where there are many people named "Mamo". I am not bothered about French flare-see the hopeless u23 performance against Albi for an example of where it leads. We have stopped conceding soft tries-Huddersfield's was soft ,but it was not a try. I thought Bird once again played well ,but the key improvers are Casty

That is a little unfair on the U23s who are top of the league haha

Top of a very poor league.Our players are poor tacklers,weak under the high ball, and nowhere near good enough for superleague. A certain son of our president is our best player-if he were bigger he would be good enough for superleague. However we do play with gallic flair.

That league is on par with bottom to mid championship. It is not a poor league