MATCH REPORT: Castleford Tigers 14-14 London Broncos

After nearly 10 weeks of hard pre-season training it was the first opportunity for London Broncos to play some “competitive” rugby since the euphoric scenes of securing promotion to Super League in Toulouse back in October.

Of course this trip up to Super League rivals Castleford was just a friendly but a chance for Mike Eccles to assess where his group of players are at as they look to make the step up this season.

Eight new signings have joined the club and Rourke, Boafo, Storey, Miloudi & Meadows all came in to start the game. However, they are second debuts for Boafo & Meadows respectively who have rejoined the club after spells away. Trialist Lee Kershaw was an interchange as he stepped up his bid to secure a contract for the 2024 season.

It was Castleford who got things underway and instantly looked sharper, which was to be expected with this being their second warm-up game. In just the second minute Castleford were awarded a penalty for offside and Danny Richardson found touch just beyond halfway. With pressure building the home side were awarded 6 again under the posts and Sam Wood barged over to open the scoring in the 4th minute. Danny Richardson who was making his return to the Castleford side after a long injury lay off kicked the extras.

Following the early try London settled into the game and started to make some headway through the middle however the game was stopped for a period after a heavy collision between Emmanuel Waine and George Griffin. The Cas player failed his HIA and had to sit the rest of this one out.

In the 15th minute Broncos were level in what was their first real meaningful attack. James Meadows stabbed a perfectly weighted kick through and Robbie Storey showed real determination to get past the covering defenders and get a hand on the ball. Oli Leyland kicked the two extras and we were 6 a piece.

Castleford were to re-take the lead just after 25 minutes when new signing Innes Senior stepped inside on the left hand side and scored his first for the club. It was blustery conditions and Richardson missed the conversion.

London had grown into the game and Gideon Boafo nearly scored in the corner but as he raced to the line and tried an acrobatic finish with one hand his right foot had just gone out of touch after some desperate defending from Cas forced him out.

In the 38th minute Oli Leyland was sent to the sin bin after it was adjudged he had tackled Qareqare high. It had seemed that Qareqare had been on the way down and the contact with the head was unavoidable but with the new RFL rules it meant Leyland would sit the next ten minutes out.

With the man advantage Castelford were to score again and it was Senior with his second - this time left with far too much space. Luke Hooley took over kicking duties but he missed and the half-time hooter went with the home side 14-6 in front.

At the break Lee Kershaw was introduced as he made his first appearance as a Bronco replacing Boafo. It took just over 5 minutes for London to reduce the deficit and it was Oli Leyland’s first involvement after returning from the field as he stepped inside a couple of tackles before diving for the line and getting it down. It was the turn of Rourke to kick and take on the elements but once again it proved too windy to direct the ball through the posts but the score was now 14-10.

Iliess Macani on the other wing was soon to have an impact as he raced through a couple of tackles 30 yards out but the referee called back play for a forward pass but it was a stark reminder of the pace that Macani has.

Mike Eccles’ side were beginning to dominate the game and they were to score again, this time Oli Leyland turning provider. The half-back with a trademark ducking and dodging run before finding Miloudi who in turn showed great footwork to score his first try for the club. Oli was back on kicking duties but was unsuccessful. A difficult day for both teams with just 2 kicks from 6 proving successful.

Heading into the final ten minutes there was a first opportunity to see Jack Hughes who came on for Rob Butler and academy product Jensen Monk replaced Dean Parata.

In the 71st minute Castleford thought they’d scored a try but the referee decided he had been held up. Some desperate but impressive defending from the now tiring Broncos.

The last real opportunity for London came in the 76th minute when Oli Leyland went racing for the Castleford line from within his own half but after letting him run for 30 yards or so the referee eventually blew his whistle and said Leyland had ripped the ball from the Cas player.

The final hooter went and in truth it’s the visitors who are probably the happier of the two sides with some valuable minutes in the tank and a good experience of gauging where they are ahead of the Super League opener on February 16th away to Saint Helens.

Up next it's a trip to Huddersfield Giants before concluding pre-season with another away game, this time at

Oldham.

Hear from Director of Rugby & Performance Mike Eccles after the Bronco's first run out of 2024: