TOULOUSE shrugged off a second half Hull FC revival to secure a victory which could help their IMG score as they moved into eighth.
Toulouse took their air out of the visitors in the in the first half, powering to a 30-0 lead by halftime. They won 44-30, the visitors matching Olympique’s first half total.
But the Black and Whites posted three tries in the space of eight minutes early in the second half to salvage some pride and give fans a whiff of what would have been Super League’s greatest ever comeback.
Early on, Henry O’Kane scored after six minutes, Luke Polselli after 13, James Roumanos embarrassing FC’s goal-line defence after 18.
O’Kane completed his double 17 minutes before the break, winger Paul Ulberg was next and Hull’s Aiden Sezer finished the half in the sin bin for taking out John Toleafoa off the ball when he was about to score.
Then came the revival, with Sezer scoring the third of these tries and also getting a late consolation effort.
Hull prop Harvie Hill was sent to the sin bin in the second half for striking Lambert Belmas with an open palm.
Soon after, twinkle-toed Cesar Rouge scored a brilliant individual try that sealed the result. Olly Ashall-Bott suffered what appeared a rib injury while scoring a 74th minute try.
TOULOUSE 44 (O’Kane 2 Polselli Roumanos Ulberg Rouge Ashall-Bott tries Rouge 8 goals) beat HULL FC 30 (Sezer 2 Martin 2 May tries Sezer 4 goal) at Stade Ernest Wallon.
Teams:
TOULOUSE: Luke Polselli; Benjamin Laguerre, Romeo Tropis, Mathieu Jussaume, Paul Ulberg; Thomas Lacans, Caesar Rouge; Lambert Belmas, Brendan Hands, Arthur Roumanos, Louis Grossemy, Henry O’Kane, Joe Cator. Res: Anthony Marion, Tiaki Chan, John Toleafoa, Olly Ashall-Bott.
HULL FC: Logan Moy; Harvey Baron, Davy Litten, Arthur Romano, Lewis Martin; Jake Arthur, Aiden Sezer; Herman Ese Ese, Amir Bourouh, Harvie Hill, Lennon Clark, Brad O’Neill, Ligi Sau. Res: Connor Bailey, Matty Laidlaw, Sam Lisone, Lloyd Kemp.
Referee: Kieran Rush
