Dewsbury Rams head coach Lee Greenwood has had his say before the home game against Toulouse.
Greenwood believes the Rams should be confident going into the fixture following the victory over Widnes last Sunday, however he knows how tough a test the French side will put up.
He said: “It’s not ideal how the fixtures have fallen for us having to play two full time teams in a row after Easter but that is what it is. We know that it will be be just as tough if not tougher than the game we played at, at Widnes.
“We really have to get the physical side of the game right as they are a very physical team, everyone sees the tries they score and the moves that they finish off. You really have to meet them on the physical challenge to make sure that those tries and moves don’t happen against you.
“It is a good test for us, I have come across these a few times now in my Gloucester days, and whilst I didn’t take the strongest team across to meet them their threats haven’t really changed in the last few years. Mainly Ford and Kheirallah who are two of their biggest threats, they aren’t that structured either they come up with different moves all the time. If you are not ready for those things then they can catch you out and hurt you, and the conversion rate of actually making a break off of them is very, very high, I have seen them score some fantastic tries this season from them.
“It’s not a case of will they throw this one move at you the whole game and you then just have to defend it. They will throw different things at you at different times and you just have to concentrate and defend. They are a full time team who are big and strong so it’s not just the physical aspect you need to worry about it’s the thought too.”
Finally Greenwood reflected on the past couple of games, saying that whilst the defeat over close rivals Batley was disappointing, the last two games against Leigh and Widnes have given him a lot of confidence.
He commented: “Going back a couple of games, the Batley game was a big disappointment but then again did anyone expect us to go to Leigh and Widnes, to play Toulouse and Halifax at home and be within a chance of winning them games? Probably not.
“We weren’t great at Leigh although I thought the effort was there. Then we have gone to Widnes and pulled off a fantastic result that shocked everyone, it was fully deserved too. Just from a team aspect confidence wise and team spirit and how the boys worked for each other, there were different people going in doing different things at different times and doing them well, and we go into this game against Toulouse as massive underdogs again.
“People can look at results however they want but as I have said from the start I shall prepare the team to go in to any game to win. People might have looked at me funny when I said that but it is true I do prepare them to go into every team to win.
As much as I don’t expect us to go to Feathersone and win, I know that if we get it right we can win anywhere. So it isn’t a massive, massive surprise when we go and get those results.
“It is a massive shock to those on the outside, but I obviously look at what the other teams do and then I know what we can do and so on any given week I know we can win. This week is no different, I know what we need to do to win, but of course getting a victory last week has done the confidence the world of good.”
