Black and Whites must put Toulouse shocker to bed

SPEEDY RESPONSE NEEDED AGAINST BRADFORD BULLS

- By DAN TOMLINSON

Toulouse's Ollie Ashall-Bott is tackled by Hull FC's Joe Westerman and Joe Batchelor ALLAN MCKENZIE/SWPIX.COM

There can be a tendency to overreact after a poor Hull FC defeat, but to suggest that was one of the Black and Whites' all-time attacking shockers at the MKM Stadium is not over the top.

The 12-4 defeat to Toulouse was utterly dreadful and all played out in front of incoming head coach Steve McNamara.

In fact, the game could still have been playing 24 hours later and Hull, lethargic and off the pace, would have struggled to get the eight points needed to claw themselves back.

Of course, credit goes to Toulouse. They played with shape, structure and organisation and got two tries on the board early on, soft tries it must be said, and that - given Hull's ineptness in attack - was enough for a 12-4 victory.

In the second half, Toulouse did nothing but defend. They made it hard to hang on with their own poor ball retention but they did just that.

They defended and defended, and while they showed spirit, Hull also made it simple for them.

What a contrast to last week - and for all the wrong reasons. Hull were polished at Castleford. They looked crisp with their shape, and the passing links between James Bell, Aidan Sezer, and Jake Arthur were on point and on the same page.