Carlos Tuimavave pays back a chunk of his new contract with matchwinning display against Castleford Tigers

Tuimavave’s four-year deal was announced yesterday morning and in the afternoon he produced a man of the match performance to show exactly why Hull rate him so highly.

The 28-year-old former Samoa international, who has been at Hull since 2016, scored two first- half tries and was involved in another as Hull overcame Castleford Tigers 29-16 to book a quarter-final meeting with Wigan Warriors at Salford on Saturday.

Almost a week to recover and prepare will seem like a luxury for wounded Hull, who – as Castleford did – were clearly running on empty by the end of their second game in four days.

The strain showed as the game deteriorated in quality and injuries mounted; the Black and Whites lost Jamie Shaul to concussion, plus Ratu Naulago (calf) and Albert Kelly (hamstring).

Seven of Hull’s 17 backed-up from last Thursday’s hard-fought win over Wakefield Trinity, but Castleford fielded 12 who had featured in their last-gasp loss to Warrington Wolves the same evening.

One of the players who came in was former Cronulla Sharks winger Sosaia Feki, who joined them last autumn and had been on the casualty list since January.

His long-awaited debut was an anti-climax, lasting only 24 minutes before he hobbled out of the action with a knee injury, having had very little involvement. That rubbed salt into a painful wound; while Hull have been revived by the prospect of a Cup run, Castleford’s season is hanging by a thread.

It was a big effort by a weary team, but they were second-best on the day, Hull doing much of the damage with two tries in three minutes either side of the break, which transformed a nervous 12-6 lead into a relatively comfortable 18-point advantage.

Hull drew first blood when Shaul broke the line on 10 minutes with Kelly in support and Tuimavave was on his shoulder to take the final pass.

Jake Connor converted and Castleford were hanging on for a spell as Michael Shenton knocked down Kelly’s pass – which would have created a try had it reached Naulago – and then Joe Cator was held up over Tigers’ line.

Having survived that, Castleford scored on their first attack. A fumble by Shaul allowed them to apply pressure and it paid off when George Griffin spun over off McShane’s pass and Danny Richardson’s kick squared things up at the end of the opening quarter. Tuimavave menaced Tigers’ left-side defence and was at the heart of Hull’s second try when he offloaded superbly to Shaul, who sent Kelly in.

Cas were twice close to grabbing a second try, when Mike McMeeken was denied by Jordan Lane’s superb tackle and James Clare got over at the corner off terrific handling by Tyla Hepi, McShane, Peter Mata’utia and Turner. Referee Liam Moore signalled a try, but was overruled by video assistant Ben Thaler, who spotted a knock-on.

In the final seconds of the half Connor was wide with a drop goal attempt, but in the next set Mata’utia’s pass was intercepted by Tuimavave inside Hull territory and he cruised away to touch down as the hooter sounded,

Hull took a firm grip on the game two minutes after the interval when Naulago raced clear from a 20-metre tap, Connor adding the goal, but Cas gave themselves a lifeline as Oliver Holmes went over from the restart.

Tigers slashed the gap further with 24 minutes left; some magic from McShane carving out an opening which Mata’utia took, though much of the credit went to Richardson from a brilliant 40-20 kick, helped into touch by Naulago.

Richardson couldn’t tag on the extras and two penalty goals from Connor, plus a drop goal in the final minute, saw Hull through.

It may not have been a Cup classic, but Hull deserved their win and both sides should take credit for putting on an entertaining encounter in circumstances which bordered on the cruel.

Castleford Tigers: Clare, Olpherts, Blair, Shenton, Feki, Mata’utia, Richardson, Watts, McShane, G Griffin, Holmes, McMeeken, O’Neill. Substitutes: Millington, Milner, Hepi, Turner.

Hull: Shaul, Naulago, Tuimavave, J Griffin, Faraimo, Connor, Kelly, Ellis, Johnstone, Fash, Lane, Ma’u, Cator. Substitutes: Fonua, Houghton, Sao, Satae.

Referee: L Moore (Wigan).

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Thank you

James Mitchinson