SIMON SMITH: The players fronted up in Percy Park win

Given that we had some important players missing, the lads who changed positions or came in did an exceptional job against a tough side.

Against a bigger outfit, we showed hunger in defence and played fast, flowing rugby.

I also feel like we fronted up to the bigger men and matched them across the park.

We played well in the first half and I felt that our discipline was spot on throughout the entire 80 minutes.

We didn’t concede many penalties which is also a positive.

The first 10 minutes after half-time were key, we seem to be much stronger at managing games and stopping the other side’s momentum.

For us to do this we needed to keep the ball and frustrate them, which is exactly what we did.

It’s pleasing to see that the young lads are growing into their leadership roles and gaining that key, positive experience which puts them in good stead.

Looking forward to Saturday’s game, our trip to Huddersfield YMCA will be another tough encounter in what is a very tough and testing division.

They’ll want to win as many home games as possible, so we need to ensure that we perform well.

The players who were away on Saturday will come back into contention and this gives strong competition for selection going into another tough test.

We’ve also been boosted by the return of Phil Watson (pictured) which offers us with added experience.