Sheffield Eagles: No surprised we were punished by Toulouse admits Mark Aston

The Eagles' play-off credentials suffered another blow after a heavy 56-18 defeat in the south of France, as full-time Toulouse never looked in danger in what was a comfortable win for the hosts.

Aston was disappointed to see so many errors from his side, and admitted with the quality of the opposition, he was not surprised to see what unfolded on an off day for his depleted side.

He told The Star: "Look, at the end of the day, it is a simple game.

“If you want to succeed you have to complete to compete. We didn't.

“We completed less than 50 per cent of our sets in the first-half, against a fine team in Toulouse. If you make mistakes, then teams like Toulouse, they will punish you."

The Eagles were competitive for most of the first-half, but they capitulated on the final 10 minutes of the opening stanza in sweltering conditions.

Toulouse opened up a 16-point advantage at the break, punishing several errors from the visitors.

Aston added: "Four out of the first five tries in the first-half were off the back of our errors. I was disappointed again, I said my piece at half-time.

“Did we get a response? Well, we probably did eventually because we scored a couple of tries, but the game was gone by then.

“I am disappointed but we won't dwell. We'll move on."