Danny Ward praises forward duo after impressive Catalans victory
London Head Coach Danny Ward heaped praise on debutant Guy Armitage and young second-rower Dan Hindmarsh after the pair steered their side to a 17-4 victory over Catalans.
Heading into the meeting two points adrift at the bottom of the table with four games left to play, tries from Keiran Dixon and Alex Walker ensured the Broncos picked up a second victory at the Stade Gilbert Brutus in 2019.
Armitage – brother of rugby union stars Delon and Steffon – impressed the club on trial and recently signed a deal until the end of 2020.
The 27-year-old played for League 1 London Skolars last weekend before being called up for his Broncos debut this time around.
Meanwhile, Hindmarsh, a product of the Broncos Academy system, made his first appearance for the club since mid July, having played the majority of his minutes this season at the Skolars.
Following the game, Ward said: “They were absolutely outstanding. We put Hindy on the bench because I know he can punch out big minutes.
“He’s got a massive engine on him for a young kid. He did a fantastic stint, did his job out there and kept things tidy.
“Guy played for London Skolars last week and has trained with us for about three weeks now.
“He won us a couple of penalties – I’m not sure how as he’s about seven-and-a-half foot – but he came on with some big carries!”
Despite being on top for the majority of the first half, Steve McNamara’s side were unable to break down a stubborn London rearguard.
Although admitting that his side weren’t at their fluent best, Ward says that he is pleased that his squad stepped up when it mattered.
“I think the game plan went out of the window in the first half,” he said. “We got put under so much pressure in that first half that the outside backs were just carrying and trying to make metres to give the forwards a little bit of a breather.
“We didn’t have too much ball and didn’t execute that well down their end of the field, but it was good enough to get the two points.
“I’m confident that every one of the 31 lads we’ve got can step in and do a job. We’ll give the boys a few days off to recover now, then we’ll be back in preparing for Leeds.”
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