Rugby: Wolfpack suffer first loss after second-half pounding from Toulouse

TOULOUSE, FRANCE— Trailing by 10 at the break, Toulouse Olympique reeled off 40 unanswered points in the second half Saturday and handed the Toronto Wolfpack a rare loss — 46-16 in Betfred Championship rugby league play.

It was the first defeat after five wins for new Wolfpack coach Brian McDermott, and just the ninth ever in competitive play for the transatlantic team (549-2) over three seasons.

“It hurts,” McDermott said of the second-half beatdown.

“Our challenge is to react to that and be very good next week. I don’t need to make them feel good about themselves right now.

“If they’re hurting right now, that’s how they need to be.”

Toronto’s last loss was on Oct. 7 — 4-2 at the hands of the visiting London Broncos in the so-called Million Pound Game, the promotion showdown that ended the Wolfpack’s bid to climb into the Super League.

But the Wolfpack were coming off a spotty performance in a 22-17 win over Dewsbury Rams that needed three late tries.

“I though we were good to start with, but when we hit about 20, 25 minutes we lacked a bit of energy. I didn’t think we finished the half strong,” McDermott said.

“We went out there and just lacked a huge amount of energy (in the second half),” he added.

“I’ve got to say Toulouse played extremely well. (They) gave us a lesson.”

French international Stan Robin and Mark Kheirallah had two tries apiece, while Australian-born Italian international Dean Parata, Gavin Marguerite and Rhys Curran added singles for Toulouse (4-2-0) in front of more than 6,000 at Ernest- Wallon Stadium.

Kheirallah, an Australian-born French international, kicked seven conversions and two penalties.

Blake Wallace, Bob Beswick and Ricky Leutele scored tries for Toronto (5-1-0), which led 16-6 at the half. Gareth O’Brien added two conversions.

Toronto lost forward Jake Emmitt to a concussion during the game.

“He’s not in good shape,” said McDermott.