Toulouse 24 Hull KR 28: Tony Smith 500-game milestone marked in style by Robins

Rovers were behind 18-4 until three quick second-half tries saved the day for the Robins, sealing a perfect Easter weekend and allowing Smith a moment to savour his milestone.

Toulouse scrum-half Lucas Albert was first to break the deadlock with a try after 15 minutes, racing 40 metres seemingly on one leg with a heavy limp to cross the line, Chris Hankinson adding the conversion to put the Olympians 6-0 ahead.

Rovers responded by forcing Toulouse into a drop out from their own line but they couldn’t make the pressure count.

If Albert had been limping earlier, he soon recovered with a series of creative attacking moves with half-back partner Tony Gigot.

When Toulouse made a triple substitution, bringing on Mitch Garbutt, Eloi Pelissier and Harrison Hansen, they turned up the temperature.

However, it took until 10 minutes from half-time before the effort paid off when first hooker Andrew Dixon was held up over the line and then substitute prop Garbutt barged across the whitewash close to the posts, Hankinson converting to make it 12-0.

Toulouse conceded three penalties in a row just before the interval but despite several promising attacks, Rovers couldn’t breach the home line.

It didn’t take long in the second half for the visitors to score their first points of the game when Toulouse spilled the ball from kick-off and Rovers spun it left to winger Ryan Hall, who dove over at the corner flag.

The touchline conversion attempt was too difficult for Jordan Abdull but the Robins were on the board at 12-4.

Toulouse struck back immediately when Andrew Dixon broke the line and raced 30 metres to put winger Paul Marcon in at the opposite corner. Hankinson was brilliantly on target from wide with the kick to push the home side further ahead at 18-4.

Hall repeated his earlier effort with a carbon-copy left-corner touchdown in the 53rd minute, Will Dagger taking over goalkicking duties and being accurate with his conversion.

Five minutes later, George King barged his way between the posts for a simple try converted by Dagger which put Rovers within two points of the Olympians at 18-16.

Abdull then collected a fumble on the wing by Marcon and he scooted inside to score behind the posts to put his side ahead for the first time in the game, Dagger adding the conversion to make it 22-18.

Three quick tries turned into four when Rovers capitalised on a series of Toulouse handling errors and prop Matt Storton scored between the posts with seven minutes left, Dagger again on target to put Rovers two clear scores ahead.

Marcon gave French supporters some hope as he dove over the line to score in the 78th minute, Hankinson’s conversion making it 28-24, but it was too little too late for Toulouse.

Toulouse: Ashall-Bott, Marcon, Hankinson, Vaivai, Bergal, Gigot, Albert, Puech, Dixon, Stefani, Sangare, Marion, Navarrete. Substitutes: Pelissier, Springer, Garbutt, Hansen.

Hull KR: Dagger, Ryan, Crooks, Kenny-Dowall, Hall, Milnes, Abdull, Storton, Litten, King, Hadley, Wood, Minchella. Substitutes: Parcell, Sims, Keinhorst, Richards.

Referee: Aaron Moore (RFL)