NRC Preview: Widnes v Toulouse

Saturday 12th February – 6pm

Widnes Vikings‘ coach Denis Betts expects a bruising battle with Toulouse Olympique in Saturday’s Northern Rail Cup fixture. Betts made a winning return to Rugby League coaching last week, steering Widnes to a 62-18 victory against London Skolars.

Betts said: “I really enjoyed being part of it all again. We looked pretty sharp at times. To score 11 tries is a massive achievement at any level, but I was a bit disappointed at times with some of our defence.”

And the former Wigan and Great Britain second row knows his side will have to improve against an Olympique team that edged past Dewsbury last week.

“I expect a very physical battle,” said Betts. “They’ve got some really good Australian boys that know how to play the game, and some big French blokes who’ll try to take it to us.”

Vikings have a couple of minor “bumps and bruises” but Betts is hopeful everyone will be given the all-clear during Thursday night’s training session.

Toulouse hope to claim a second win of 2011, but coach Gilles Dumas remains without three key players. Constant Villegas and Tim Wynn are both sidelined as they recover from knee reconstructions, while Rory Bromley (Achilles) faces up to another three months out.