SHAUN McRAE, the Hull director of rugby, who is being linked with the coaching job at South Sydney Rabbitohs, the NRL team, will sit down with his chief executive today to discuss his future. McRae’s contract is up at the end of the year and, although he refuses to speculate on rumours linking him with the Australian post, he noted that New Zealand Warriors are also in the market for a new head coach.
McRae had just seen his side keep the pressure on Leeds Rhinos and St Helens at the top of the Tetley’s Super League with a comprehensive win over London Broncos yesterday. “I was happy with some things but there is some work to be done,” he said.
The move to Welford Road, home of Leicester, the rugby union club, for this game because of work on their Brentford pitch, did not bring any change in the Broncos’ fortunes. Although they were a little more competitive than of late, this was their eighth defeat on the trot.
Hull were not at their best in the first half and, although there were tries from Shaun Briscoe, Richard Whiting and Paul McNicholas plus two goals from Paul Cooke, tries from Liam Botham and Rob Jackson, both converted by Paul Sykes, kept the Broncos in contention.
After the interval, Hull ran in five tries through Colin Best, Richard Horne, Whiting, Gareth Raynor and Peter Lupton. Mark O’Halloran, Joe Mbu and Jackson crossed for London to give a little gloss to the scoreline.
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Tony Rea, the London coach, who is hoping to have some of his key players back from injury soon, said: “The fightback was a good sign but we missed too many tackles.”
SCORERS: London Broncos: Tries: Botham, Jackson 2, O’Halloran, Mbu. Goals: Sykes 3. Hull: Tries: Briscoe, Whiting 2, McNicholas, Best, Horne, Raynor, Lupton. Goals: Cooke 4, Whiting.
LONDON BRONCOS: P Sykes; L Greenwood, R Jackson, M O’Halloran, J Kirkpatrick; S Thomas, D Moran; R Moore, N Budworth, S Trindall, L Botham, A Brocklehurst, S Retchless. Substitutes: M Stringer, J Mbu, T Haughey, D Highton.
HULL: S Briscoe; C Best, K Yeaman, R Whiting, G Raynor; P Cooke, R Horne; P King, R Swain, E Dowes, P McNicholas, S McMenemy, J Smith. Substitutes: P Lupton, A Wilkinson, L Higgins, N Scruton.
Referee: I Smith.