TOULOUSE OLYMPIQUE 16 CATALANS DRAGONS 18
PETER BIRD, Stade Ernest Wallon, Saturday

CATALANS coped best with stormy conditions to win the third and final all-French clash of the season.

Toulouse, who beat their rivals for the first time three weeks earlier, would have leapfrogged the Dragons into eighth place with victory.

But their three-match winning run came to a soggy end in large part down to the excellence of Guillermo Aispuro-Bichet, who scored a try and three goals, and Toby Sexton in a very scrappy game played in difficult conditions.

The heavens opened as the game started and the first rain for weeks in the region caused havoc with ball handling. The early moments were especially tricky, but the game improved as the storm eased.

A successful Captain’s Challenge by the Dragons in the ninth minute was well defended by Toulouse but the rapid restart from winger Paul Ulberg a minute later was finished off by Thomas Lacans only to be refused.

Play was instead pulled back for a Toulouse penalty right of the posts, with Jake Shorrocks kicking well.

Catalans opened their account on 15 minutes with Tommy Makinson sliding over on the slippery surface close to the right post, where Aispuro-Bichet made no mistake with the conversion.

The Dragons conceded cheap penalties close to their line but survived with help from the elements. Errors dictated the play as both sides struggled to keep possession.

Aussie prop Josh Allen thought he had scored eleven minutes from the break under the posts, but the try was refused due to a double movement.

The stop-start nature of the game favoured Catalans with the hosts unable to play their slick style, due to both the conditions and the loss of talisman Olly Ashall-Bott through injury earlier in the half.

Catalans made the most of it and reached double figures with stand-in fullback Aispuro-Bichet breaking through from 15 metres to crash over.

Aispuro-Bichet added to his points tally with the conversion as the hooter sounded, making it 12-2 at the break.

With the rain finally abating, the Dragons continued to show their superiority, forcing a goalline drop-out early in the second period.

Toulouse defended well and even managed a rare moment of danger close to the line only for Catalans winger Nick Cotric to intervene a couple of metres out.

Two minutes later Toulouse took full advantage of their own forced drop-out with young French centre Roméo Tropis easing his way over on the left side after great work from acting fullback Benjamin Laguerre. Shorrocks converted well from the right touchline, narrowing the gap to four.

The home side were visibly boosted by the try and the improvement in conditions, and it was a much more even game that hung in the balance heading into the last quarter.

However, Catalans deservedly pulled away on 70 minutes with a looping pass out left from Sexton which was well collected by Makinson with plenty of time to score in the corner.

Toulouse responded well and should have scored just after, but Tropis elected to run with Ulberg free to his left.

With five minutes remaining, Shorrocks chose to kick a penalty to narrow the deficit to one converted score and add to the tension.

But they conceded an error then a penalty from the restart and Catalans made sure of the welcome two competition points with Aispuro-Bichet kicking another goal.

There was still time for Joe Cator to touch down for Toulouse and Shorrocks to convert, but those were the final actions.

GAMESTAR: Guillermo Aispuro-Bichet stood in well at fullback, defending and attacking well.

GAMEBREAKER: Tommy Makinson’s second try, using his experience to finish off well in the left corner.

HIGHLIGHT REEL: The Guillermo Aispuro-Bichet break in the wet conditions to score Catalans’ second try.

ALBERT GOLDTHORPE POINTS
3 pts Guillermo Aispuro-Bichet (Catalans)
2 pts Toby Sexton (Catalans)
1 pt Jake Shorrocks (Toulouse)

MATCHFACTS

OLYMPIQUE
1 Olly Ashall-Bott
5 Benjamin Laguerre
19 Roméo Tropis
39 Ethan Quai-Ward
2 Paul Ulberg
6 Thomas Lacans
7 Jake Shorrocks
10 James Roumanos
13 Anthony Marion
8 Lambert Belmas
22 Henry O’Kane
12 Mathieu Jussaume
15 Joe Cator
Subs (all used)
27 Hugo Garrigues
30 Tiaki Chan
40 John Toleafoa
41 Louis Grossemy
18th man (not used)
20 AJ Wallace
Also in 21-man squad
9 Brendan Hands
17 Rob Butler
25 Luke Polselli

Tries: Tropis (53), Cator (80)
Goals: Shorrocks 4/4

DRAGONS
24 Guillermo Aispuro-Bichet
3 Nick Cotric
27 Clément Martin
4 Solomona Faataape
2 Tommy Makinson
6 Toby Sexton
7 Lewis Dodd
16 Josh Allen
26 Ugo Tison
11 Franck Maria
20 Zac Lipowicz
33 Edenn Rogers-Smith
13 Ben Garcia
Subs (all used)
8 Tevita Satae
10 Julien Bousquet
12 Ben Condon
19 Kruise Leeming
18th man (not used)
21 Matthieu Laguerre
Also in 21-man squad
1 Charlie Staines
25 Lenny Marc
30 Alexis Lis

Tries: Makinson (15, 70), Aispuro-Bichet (39)
Goals: Aispuro-Bichet 3/4

SCORING SEQUENCE: 2-0, 2-6, 2-12; 8-12, 8-16, 10-16, 10-18, 16-18

Rugby Leaguer & League Express Men of the Match
Olympique: Jake Shorrocks; Dragons: Guillermo Aispuro-Bichet

Penalty count: 8-8
Half-time: 2-12
Referee: James Vella
Attendance: 7,024