Marshall ‘shaking his head’ as Fax go down to heavy defeat in France

Fax suffered their second loss of the Bank Holiday weekend as Toulouse’s Australian full back Mark Kheirallah scored 28 points in a one-sided encounter.

The visitors, who fielded a number of walking wounded to add to the list of senior players already missing, were 22-0 down inside 18 minutes leaving their boss looking shell shocked in front of the post-match media conference.

“I don’t question the attitude, but our basic skill level and our defence had me shaking my head at times,” said Marshall.

“There are some reasons there, injuries, the travel, but we’ve got to better than that.

“It was a very different performance to Friday against Bradford with a very similar team.

“Toulouse were white hot and I think they had three or four key players they rotated and we don’t have that luxury at the moment.

“Our squad is very thin and to ask some of those players who played Friday to back up again is testament to their character.

“We are missing a hatful of players, but I didn’t envisage conceding 50 points.

“It’s a young team and they are going to learn through these experiences, but it’s not nice for anyone at the moment.

“There aren’t many positives, but the fact we didn’t give up is one.

“I thought Will Sharp was immense, Ed Barber’s been our best player over the last month and Steve Tyrer’s really stood up again as captain; those senior players are setting an example to the group.”

Marshall’s task doesn’t get any easier, with a trip to Sheffield - big winners over Toulouse in the Steel City on Good Friday - on the cards next weekend.

“Sheffield put 40 points on Toulouse, so you work that one out,” he warned.