Whitehaven will have to contend with a backlash when they face holders St Helens on Saturday in the sixth round of the Challenge Cup.
Shocks don’t happen a lot in Super League, when top plays bottom, but the Saints were stunned last night when they went down 22-20 in France against Toulouse Olympique.
It was Toulouse’s first win since promotion from the Betfred Championship and Saints’ first defeat of the season – coincidentally their first defeat last season was in France against Catalan Dragons.
Coach Kristian Woolf will doubtless be looking for a reaction to that when his side return to action in west Cumbria.
“Our first losses of both seasons have been in France and we need to find out reasons why. But Toulouse were excellent and there are going to be lots of teams who go there and lose.”
Haven were delighted to land the plum draw and it will be the biggest game they’ve staged for a while, with widespread interest in the tie.
Local amateur clubs have already moved their League games scheduled for Saturday and St Helens sold half of their 1,000 allocation within hours of going on sale.
Head coach Jonty Gorley won’t even talk about the game until today’s Championship fixture against Sheffield is out of the way with League points clearly his main priority.
But in view of Saints’ experiences in France for the last two seasons maybe Gorley and the Haven officials should consider a Gallic-themed welcome for the Saints – a local band belting out La Marseillaise for starters.
