Agar: Felt penalty was harsh
The fact that he didn’t make it in either England squad is really good for us. It seems to have given him that extra spur and, if he keeps performing like this for us, he won’t be far off.
Richard Agar on Kirk Yeaman
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Hull coach Richard Agar thinks Kirk Yeaman is playing himself back into England contention after his heroics against St Helens.
The 27-year-old centre could not celebrate a victory despite his three tries, as a late Jamie Foster penalty secured a 24-24 draw for the visitors at the KC Stadium.
Yeaman has not played for his country since 2007 and was not even included in the England Knights squad earlier this year, with Agar saying he is using the omission as his motivation this season.
“Kirk has been very hungry this season. We’ve set him some targets, some tangible goals, and he’s set about them in good style,” he said.
“He’s playing strongly. He’s got the bit between his teeth and he’s determined to force his way into international selection, which is great for us.
Spur
“The fact that he didn’t make it in either England squad is really good for us. It seems to have given him that extra spur and, if he keeps performing like this for us, he won’t be far off.”
Agar was disappointed that his side could not manage to complete the win after passing up an 18-0 lead before edging ahead again late on.
He added: “I thought we had put ourselves in a position at the death to come up with a victory and the way it transpired was a bit of a disappointment.
“We had a tough Easter but five points from six is a good return. We are just disappointed it’s not six.”
He also thought that referee Steve Ganson’s decision to penalise Danny Washbrook for taking out Nathan Ashe, allowing Foster to tie the scores, was a harsh one.
Ball
“Danny Washbrook’s eyes were on the ball and I thought he was quite entitled to make a play for it,” he said.
St Helens boss Royce Simmons was left to rue the errors that saw his side fall behind in the first half, although he took a more positive attitude on the performance of debuting full-back Ashe.
“It’s a point I suppose. Our ball control in the first half was poor and that tells you you’re going to come in well behind on the scoreboard,” he said.
“If you’d have said then you’re going to get a point I’d have taken it. I did mention to the boys that we could get back in the game but I thought doing all that defence in the first half came back to bite us.”
He added of Ashe: “I was only expecting to use him for 15 or 20 minutes at the back end of the game but he was called on 15 minutes in.
“I thought he was tremendous. He didn’t panic, got some good balls out the back and did some nice things. Once he gets his fitness and strength levels up, there will be a good future there for him.”