Nine-try Hull FC give Last a winning start at Cas

Betfred Super League Castleford (6) 10 Tries: Mapapalangi 2 Goal: Weaver Hull FC (20) 50 Tries: Arthur, Briscoe, Litten 2, Bailey, Martin, Hardaker, Cust, Aydin Goals: Hardaker 7 Hull FC reacted to the departure of head coach John Cartwright with a dominant nine-try thrashing of Castleford Tigers. The Tigers shocked Wigan Warriors on their own turf last week to lift themselves off bottom spot, but they quickly reverted to the ill discipline and flimsy defence which had led to them propping up the rest of Super League. Hull parted company with Cartwright last week after St Helens had inflicted a second successive defeat, but they were on top from the start, as tries from Jake Arthur, Tom Briscoe, Davy Litten and Connor Bailey had them out of sight by half-time, with Krystian Mapapalangi conjuring up the Tigers' only reply.

Hull gave interim coach Andy Last, in charge until the end of the season, a great start by adding second-half tries from Lewis Martin, Litten, Zak Hardaker, Bailey, Cade Cust and Yusuf Aydin as Mapapalangi grabbed his second from a rare forward foray by Cas. Last won eight of the 14 games he was in charge for during his previous caretaker spell in 2020, but his players gave him a sparkling start to this second stint after a difficult fortnight for the club. They were greatly helped by a dismal display by Cas, which contrasted hugely with the performance at the Brick Stadium, as they defended with little energy and resolve and constantly conceded penalties throughout.

Amir Bourouh's electrifying break set up Arthur for the opener after just six minutes, and after George Lawler had been sin-binned for putting his shoulder to Ligi Sao's head, Hull pounced again as Arthur looped a pass for Briscoe to score. Sao failed his head injury assessment but the Black and Whites did not falter as Litten stepped inside two would-be tacklers for another try, and Bailey touched down his first after Arthur had cheekily dabbed a kick through Mapapalangi's legs. Australian centre Mapapalangi, a rare bright spot for Cas on a troubling night, responded by bursting through a gap to give Cas a glimmer of hope just before half-time, but that glimmer was snuffed out shortly after the restart as Aidan Sezer's precise lob found Martin for another Hull try.

Sezer and Arthur were dictating the game by this point, and Sezer sent Litten away for his second try, while a break by loan signing Harry Newman set up Hardaker for his first try of the season. Mapapalangi leapt highest to claim Weaver's hoisted kick for a consolation score but that barely interrupted the flow coming the other way as Cust bounced through two tackles for another try and Aydin added a ninth. To add insult to injury, Hardaker opted to kick a penalty in front of the posts to bring up the 50 points to a huge cheer from the 2,000 travelling fans, with the rest of the ground virtually empty.