Hunslet Hawks: Bramald '˜crushed' by last-gasp defeat

Hunslet were two minutes away from ending the French visitors’ unbeaten record in Kingstone Press League One, but Toulouse scored a long-range try to snatch a 16-12 win.

That effectively ended Hunslet’s hopes of featuring in the Super-8s semi-finals and Bramald said: “The players could not have given any more.

“The lads tipped absolutely everything into it. I would rather have been beaten by 40 points than for that to happen.

“We just had to defend one set, but the try they scored would not have been out of place in a Super League game – three or four off-loads and a break, though the final pass was a mile forward.”

Bramald was proud of his team’s effort in driving rain.

He added: “We had an 88 per cent completion rate, which was a fantastic effort in terms of skill.

“It was absolutely crushing to lose that way. The 17 players afterwards were absolutely mortified, they did not deserve that.”

George Flanagan needed hospital treatment on a knee injury and is a doubt for Sunday’s final game of the season at Rochdale Hornets. Danny Williams (neck) and Jiummy Watson (hamstring) will also be assessed through the week.