Francis Cummins allayed fears Nick Scruton could be set for a spell on the sidelines after the Bulls overpowered Hull FC 30-18 in their opening pre-season friendly.

The former Leeds prop, who enjoyed an outstanding 2013 campaign, opened the scoring inside the second minute but picked up a knock to his back in the process and was soon withdrawn.

Head coach Cummins said: “Scrutes knocked the base of his spine as he scored his try. It was more of a nervy pain rather than anything serious, and there’s no point in risking him.”

After Scruton’s early try, Adrian Purtell, Danny Addy and Jamie Foster (pictured, right, with Purtell) touched down to put the Bulls into a 24-0 lead.

Adam Henry added a fifth on his debut while Lee Gaskell and Garreth Carvell also made impressive bows.

Cummins added: “The one thing we’ve had to do over the past few months is pull together, and you could see that with some of our defensive efforts out there. We’ve stood up against some really good players, and we scrambled really well in defence.

“You want to build confidence and momentum; as a club we probably need to build that momentum.

“We needed to show a performance out there today because it feels like we’ve all been taking shots on the chin for the past few months. It’ll give the crowd something to cheer about, with a bit of luck.”