Haven player-coach Carl Forster was rightly proud of his boys as they were bundled out of the Ladbrokes Cup, losing 56-10 to Catalans Dragons in the South of France.

"It's the intensity and the speed of the game that's the problem, the physicality we can handle and we did OK for 40 minutes but it's the speed and fitness of the full-time game," he said.

"We only train twice a week and the Dragons are fitter and stronger and are a good side."

But he said the trip was good experience for his young squad.

"We put something out there and it obviously wasn't a wasted trip, we mixed it out there for 50 or 60 minutes with the Catalans.

"Catalans may have won the arm-wrestle but the scoreline may be a bit flattering and a lot of our errors lead them to getting good ball. Championship One is a competitive league but if we can mix it with the Catalans we can mix it with anyone".

"We had problems near the end, I twisted my knee in the last 10 minutes but had to stay on the field as no subs were available but we'll assess the fitness of the squad next week before putting out the most competitive team available for the next game against London Skolars".

The team was lead out by Kris Coward on the day on his 200th career appearance."

Forster said: "I wish it would have been a better outcome for him but it's a little gesture we do for lads passing a milestone."

Asked about the general quality of Championship One this season, he said: "The quality of the teams has gone through the roof this season, obviously we had Toronto and Barrow in last year but this year many of the clubs have really stepped up and we just need to try to keep up with them."