The game kicked off in torrential rain and there was a feeling that this “Yorkshire weather” would suit the visitors. We were expecting a contest of the two packs and so it proved as, for the first ten minutes, the Leeds forwards drove into the home defence. Villi Ma’asi led the charge showing his great appetite for the big hits and keeping the home defence on the back foot. On ten minutes an alarm sounded for the visitors as Castres broke up the field with a slick handling move involving forwards and backs although nothing came of it. The Carnegies cleared their lines but we had had a glimpse of  what the home side were capable of  even in such poor conditions. For the rest of the first half  Stuart Lancaster’s lads were on top. Lee Blackett was revelling in the conditions, chasing high balls and generally using his powerful physique to good effect. 

At half time the biggest surprise, apart from the fact that it was still raining, was that the score was still nil-nil. Leeds had had the majority of possession in the first half without really threatening to breach the home defence. The Carnegie fans believed that more of the same after the break would get the right result eventually. This was not the case as the French raised their game after the restart and errors started to creep into the Carnegie game. Once the good Doctor’s line kicks started missing touch it was only a matter of time before the home side were gifted a kickable penalty. On a night when it was obvious that points were going to be hard come by The Carnegies were soon six nil down. At this point we got a series of substitutions which were detrimental to the Leeds performance. At no point had Ma’asi shown any signs of tiring but he was taken off. However it was the replacement of Lee Blackett by Tuilagi that was to prove crucial in the end. The Samoan was not on the pitch very long before he was penalised for a high tackle. This must have set the referee against him as he was carded later for what seemed to be an innocuous hand–off. This was not the night to be playing a man short and the French forwards seized the initiative to score the only try of the game. The Doc finally got Leeds on the scoreboard and was close to securing a bonus point late on when his kick drifted wide of the posts. 

 Another disappointing defeat for Leeds then but at least the team has a ten-day break before the “cup final” against London Irish at Headingley Carnegie.

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