Castleford v Toulouse: One change for Tigers, Two back for Toulouse

Castleford Tigers have made one change to the squad that will face Toulouse Olympique on Friday.

Only Daniel Smith has dropped out from the team which won at Leeds in the Challenge Cup last Saturday. He has a calf strain, which is currently being assessed.

As a result, winger James Clare returns to Lee Radford’s 21-man-squad.

They come into the game looking for just their second Super League win of the season so far. The Tigers will hope last week’s victory can be a springboard for them.

“Big improvement” from Castleford

Previewing the game, Tigers assistant Andy Last told the club website: “I think the big improvement from us at Leeds was from a defensive point of view and the fact that we managed to keep them under 18 points.

We have taken confidence from that and it’s something that we have built on this week. We still are a work in progress, and I think we can improve but I think you could see our offensive power and strike that we have got.

We’ve got huge respect for the job Sylvain Houles has done and they are going to be a well drilled and well coached side.

“To beat St Helens is a magnificent achievement and they played with a real energy about them the other week. We need to take care of our attitude and make sure that we are all ready to play on Friday night.”

Toulouse looking to back up maiden victory

Toulouse also come into the game on a high. They were victorious in their last Super League game at home against champions and previously unbeaten St Helens.

Head Coach Sylvain Houles has made two changes from that side that made history in France- as Toulouse claimed their first ever Super League win.

Junior Vaivai and James Cunningham return to the squad. Neither of those two players had played for Toulouse since their round two defeat at Salford.

They replace Hugo Pezet and Ilias Bergal in the 21-man-squad.

Castleford: Evalds, Olpherts, Turner, Mamo, Faraimo, Trueman, Watts, McShane, Lawler, Edwards, Milner, Westerman, Massey, Griffin, Fonua, Hepi, Clare, Sutcliffe, Eden, Matagi, O’Brien.

Toulouse: Vaivai, Marcon, Albert, Navarrete, Hansen, Dixon, Peyroux, Marion, Pelissier, Puech, Bretherton, Paulo, Garbutt, Cunningham, Hankinson, Sangare, Armitage, Russell, Ashall-Bott, Stefani, Gigot.

The match kicks off at 8pm at the Mend-A-Hose Jungle.

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