CATALANS DRAGONS 36 TOULOUSE OLYMPIQUE 18
RICKY WILBY, Stade Gilbert Brutus, Friday
CATALANS won the first French derby of 2026 as coaches Joel Tomkins and Sylvain Houles finally got to see the results of their pre-season.
Josh Simm’s double will have given Tomkins some comfort while on this performance Houles will be looking for more from his Toulouse side – particularly in the latter stages of games.
Both sides named a raft of changes from last season as both squads, especially the Dragons, have undergone some reconstruction with Toulouse moving into Super League from the Championship and Catalans hoping for a much improved 2026.
The only downside to the win for the home side was the three players who left the field in the second half to concussion protocols, and coach Tomkins will be hoping for good news on Harvey Wilson, Romain Navarette and Josh Allen before heading to Batley in the Challenge Cup.
The Dragons certainly started liked they meant business, launching early attacks on the Toulouse line.
Only a forward pass prevented Tommy Makinson from opening the scores, but Ben Condon did so minutes later, smart play down the left creating space for Condon to charge over.
Toby Sexton added the conversion to give the hosts a deserved six-point lead.
Romain Navarette helped to double that five minutes later, charging onto a short ball from Kruise Leeming to reach out and score. Sexton again converted as the Dragons were registering at a point a minute.
It seemed too easy for the home side as they looked to offload and throw a pass at every opportunity, but that came to haunt them in the 17th minute as Olly Ashall-Bott picked up a loose ball and raced away to score his side’s first try of the game, converted by Anthony Marion to bring the score to 12-6.
Catalans extended their lead in the 24th minute, as smart play down the right from Sexton and Lewis Dodd saw Makinson touch down in the corner.
From the touchline, Sexton maintained his impeccable record with the boot to restore a twelve-point lead for the home side.
Toulouse looked to register the next score as time wound down in the first half, but good defence from Makinson and Solomona Faataape prevented them from narrowing the deficit until two minutes from the break when the pressure finally told.
Hugo Garrigues breached the Catalans line to score, and Thomas Lacans converted to bring things to 18-12 at the break.
The second half saw a raft of changes as both coaches looked to utilise their replacements.
It was a starter, however, who levelled the game up twelve minutes into the second stanza, Ashall-Bott scoring his second try of the game.
A third kicker of the game for the visitors, recently-transferred former Dragon César Rougé, added the simple conversion to level the scores at 18-a-piece.
Into the final quarter, winger Josh Simm touched down twice in two minutes to give the hosts a twelve-point lead with replacement Guillermo Aispuro-Bichet converting both – the second from the touchline – to take the score to 30-18.
Tevita Satae sealed the win for the Dragons with three minutes remaining from short range, before Aispuro-Bichet added the simple conversion.
GAMESTAR: Despite being on the losing team, Olly Ashall-Bott shone for the visitors, marking his performance with two tries that lit up Stade Gilbert Brutus.
GAMEBREAKER: Two tries in two minutes from Josh Simm saw the Dragons move to a twelve-point lead heading into the final stages of the game.
MATCHFACTS
DRAGONS
1 Charlie Staines
2 Tommy Makinson
3 Nick Cotric
4 Solomona Faataape
5 Manase Kaho
6 Toby Sexton
7 Lewis Dodd
17 Romain Navarrete
19 Kruise Leeming
15 Iszac Fa’asuamaleaui
20 Zac Lipowicz
12 Ben Condon
13 Ben Garcia
Subs (all used)
15 Tevita Satae
10 Julian Bousquet
14 Phoenix Laulu-Togaga’e
16 Josh Allen
18 Harvey Wilson
21 Matthieu Laguerre
22 Josh Simm
24 Guillermo Aispuro-Bichet
25 Lenny Marc
27 Clément Martin
28 Léo Darrelatour
30 Alexis Lis
Tries: Condon (8), Navarrete (13), Makinson (24), Simm (64,66), Satae (77)
Goals: Sexton 3/3, Aispuro-Bichet 3/3
OLYMPIQUE
1 Olly Ashall-Bott
5 Benjamin Laguerre
19 Roméo Tropis
3 Reubenn Rennie
2 Paul Ulberg
6 Thomas Lacans
25 Luke Polselli
8 Lambert Belmas
9 Brendan Hands
23 Tyler Dupree
22 Henry O’Kane
12 Mathieu Jussaume
13 Anthony Marion
Subs (all used)
18 Baptise Rodriguez
15 Joe Cator
16 Joe Bretherton
10 James Roumanos
21 Ellis Gillam
17 Rob Butler
29 César Rougé
24 Pierre-Jean Lima
26 Trevor Chiffolleau
27 Hugo Garrigues
28 Mathieu Pons
31 Victor Collin
32 Bradley Goffin
33 Anthony Munico
34 Paolo Dall’asta
35 Waïl Skoundri
Tries: Ashall-Bott (17, 52), Garrigues (38)
Goals: Marion 1/1, Lacans 1/1, Rougé 1/1
SCORING SEQUENCE: 6-0, 12-0, 12-6, 18-6, 18-12; 18-18, 24-18, 30-18, 36-18
Rugby Leaguer & League Express Men of the Match
Dragons: Toby Sexton; Olympique: Olly Ashall-Bott
Penalty count: 6-9
Half-time: 18-12
Referee: Marcus Griffiths
Attendance: 3,600