Brett Hodgson has reflected on a successful maiden trip to Toulouse as his side returned home with a crucial two points following their 30-6 win.
A dominant second-half from the Black & Whites saw them run away with the scoreline at the Stade Ernest-Wallon in front of hundreds of loud and proud supporters from East Yorkshire who made the trip to the venue for the very first time.
“We’ve obviously not been at the level we’ve wanted to be at for a number of weeks, but we’ve seen us cope under some real adversity today,” Hodgson said to hullfc.com after the game.
“Joe Lovodua dropped out yesterday, but we’ve got players who were capable of slotting in and coming in and giving it everything they’ve got.
Praising his try-scoring debutants in the form of Will Smith and Harvey Barron, he added: “Will was excellent, his control was very good; there were moments in the game which you could tell that he hasn’t played a game for a number of months, but I thought what he did out there overall was very good. He’ll get better with a bit more fitness and game time too.
“He was dangerous, and he created plenty of opportunities.
“Harvey ran the ball strong and carried really well out of back-field; I’m really proud of both of them. We’ve had faith and trust on him to get the job done, and he did that. He made some good defensive reads too, made some tough carries, and we’re really pleased for him to make his debut.”
Hodgson also praised Jake Connor for his creative flare in the match, as well as members of his pack as the Airlie Birds dominated the French outfit after the break.
“When we lost Joe yesterday, we adapted to make Jake jump in at full-back at time in the game when we needed him. It worked well for us – Jack Walker was sore from last week, so we covered that well. When we went into good ball scenario, we managed to execute that.
“Kane Evans was brilliant, and we really needed that from him when we’re missing Chris Satae and Ligi Sao in the middle. I thought Scott Taylor, Brad Fash Matty Laidlaw and Jack Brown all really stood up for us – they contributed massively for us.
He added: “The aim is to back this up now – we know we still have plenty of work to do. We won’t get many back so it’s going to be another tough test.”
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