INTERVIEW | Richard Horne reacts to impressive Dons win over Batley

Doncaster coach Richard Horne was more pleased with the zero points against them rather than the 26 scored during Sunday's victory over Batley Bulldogs at the Eco-Power Stadium.

The Dons, who moved up to seventh on the Betfred Championship ladder, kept their rivals scoreless, notching up the first clean sheet of the season. In Horne's eyes, their defensive grit and resilience are more satisfying than the tries scores, and praised his players' efforts during his post-match press conference. 

Hailing a complete team performance, the Dons boss was over the moon with the way his team controlled the Bulldogs’ pack and moved their big men around the pack during a warm afternoon in South Yorkshire. 

"I thought it was one of those all-round performances, everyone competed and did their jobs. Our middles defended well and outside backs carried us out of backball. To keep them to zero and the way we went about it was very pleasing. We had a game plan and we never went away from it. We completed well and because of the weather, we went set-to-set to drain their energy. We could have played more at the end of the game but we didn't want to change things. 

"I thought Watson Boas was very good but my Man of the Match was Luke Briscoe. He won the ruck for us and had plenty to deal with in the air. Those effort areas don't go unnoticed. We were on the front foot and I'm so pleased with all the boys. We're starting to get to grips with this division and what it takes. We continue to build piece by piece."

Looking ahead to next week's trip to West Yorkshire to face Halifax Panthers, Horne wants to rebuild and go again. "I'm sure it'll click for Halifax soon, I just hope it's not when we play them! If we play like we did today with that application, I'm sure we'll be fine."

To watch the full interview click on the video above.