Beaten 72-10 in Toulouse last night, Whitehaven can at least breathe a sigh of relief after being rid of their two toughest away trips in the first month of the season.
Two weeks ago the Cumbrians lost by a similar score – 76-4 – at Betfred Championship favourites Featherstone Rovers.
Jonty Gorley’s men will expect to be more competitive against the rest of the Championship opposition who don’t have the power, pace and teamwork of Featherstone and Toulouse.
Toulouse, relegated from the Super League, scored 36 points in each half while Whitehaven managed a try in each half.
It was always going to be tough for Haven, who flew out on Friday, and although well beaten stuck gamely to their task until the end.
The French side scored 12 tries, all converted by Jake Shorrocks who completed a remarkable evening by helping himself to a hat-trick of tries.
Lima also grabbed a hat-trick and the other touchdowns came from Reuben Rennie, Olly Ashall-Bott, Paul Marcon, Greg Richards, Maxime Stefani and Mathieu Jussaume.
Whitehaven were delighted to break the Toulouse defence on two occasions through Josh Rourke and Curtis Teare with Sam Freeman converting the second.
There’s more travelling for Whitehaven to tackle next week-end when they visit London Broncos in the Challenge Cup.
