CATALANS DRAGONS 16 WIGAN WARRIORS 40
RICKY WILBY, Stade Jean Bouin, Paris, Saturday

SUPER LEAGUE returned to Paris for the first time since August 26, 1997 as Catalans welcomed newly-crowned Challenge Cup winners Wigan to the French capital.

But this was less a showcase of the French club and game, and more of the brilliant Warriors and some of their outstanding young talents in particular, with Jack Farrimond and George Marsden shining in the halves.

Both sets of fans impeccably observed a minute’s silence for John Kear, who coached Paris St Germain for part of their time in Super League, ahead of the mouthwatering clash which in the end showcased the gulf between the top teams in the division and those fighting to reach the top six.

Wigan immediately started on the front foot as Liam Farrell’s grubber through was chased by Jai Field and Matty Russell knocked the ball dead in-goal. From that field position Wigan sent the ball to the left and Junior Nsemba, another standout, managed to offload to the supporting Field who dived over.

Former Dragon Adam Keighran added the conversion, his first of six goals.

Nsemba was running riot down the left edge, breaking clear again five minutes later only to be hauled down by Charlie Staines.

It was Nsemba who extended the Warriors’ lead on the quarter hour, when a kick to the left edge from 17-year-old Marsden was collected by the tall second-rower and, despite two defenders, he reached out to touch the ball down.

The Dragons slowly worked their way back into the game by building pressure and, short of the half-hour mark, a neat Lewis Dodd grubber to the in-goal area was pounced on by Solomona Faataape. Toby Sexton added the conversion to reduce the deficit to six points.

Keighran added a penalty following Tevita Satae’s sin-binning for a professional foul on the half hour to extend the Wigan lead to eight points – but the prop’s decision to hold down to force a Captain’s Challenge which he ultimately lost proved far more costly as three tries followed before half-time.

Marsden raced over for a four-pointer that saw brilliant play from Field and Farrimond before the teen put the hammer down to race over in the right corner.

A piece of absolute magic followed four minutes from the break from Lance Todd Trophy winner Jack Farrimond. With nothing on, the Wigan stand-off put through a short grubber kick that Staines couldn’t get to, threw his boot at the ball and then collected and touched down acrobatically just before the dead-ball line to score.

From the restart Field raced clear, drew Staines and offloaded to the supporting Jake Wardle who raced around towards the posts to make it 6-30 at the break.

Catalans shot out of the traps in the second half, Dodd feeding second-rower Zac Lipowicz to score from close range.

Wigan offered more hope to Catalans in the 53rd minute when Patrick Mago was sent to the sin bin for a trip on Dodd, but they couldn’t make a further breakthrough.

With ten minutes remaining, Wigan sent the ball to the right through Farrimond and, with a spectacular finish, Eckersley put the ball down in the corner.

With time running down, the sides traded further tries as first Satae crashed over for the Dragons before Keighran touched down for the visitors.

GAMESTAR: Junior Nsemba was outstanding from the off. His power, strength and speed was evident as he ran riot down the left.

GAMEBREAKER: Tevita Satae was sent to the sin bin with Catalans six points behind. When he returned they trailed by 24 and the game was over as a contest.

HIGHLIGHT REEL: Jack Farrimond laid on a try-of-the-season contender as he grubbered through and then chipped over the top only to win the race to the ball before the dead-ball line and score.

ALBERT GOLDTHORPE POINTS
3 pts Junior Nsemba (Wigan)
2 pts Jack Farrimond (Wigan)
1 pt George Marsden (Wigan)

MATCHFACTS

DRAGONS
1 Charlie Staines
23 Matty Russell
21 Matthieu Laguerre
4 Solomona Faataape
3 Nick Cotric
6 Toby Sexton
7 Lewis Dodd
16 Josh Allen
26 Ugo Tison
17 Romain Navarrete
11 Franck Maria
20 Zac Lipowicz
13 Ben Garcia
Subs (all used)
8 Tevita Satae
10 Julian Bousquet
12 Ben Condon
19 Kruise Leeming
18th man (not used)
2 Tommy Makinson
Also in 21-man squad
18 Harvey Wilson
24 Guillermo Aispuro-Bichet
27 Clement Martin

Tries: Faataape (27), Lipowicz (44), Satae (74)
Goals: Sexton 2/3
Sin bin: Satae (30) – professional foul

WARRIORS
1 Jai Field
2 Zach Eckersley
3 Adam Keighran
4 Jake Wardle
28 Noah Hodkinson
19 Jack Farrimond
36 George Marsden
8 Ethan Havard
9 Brad O’Neill
10 Luke Thompson
11 Junior Nsemba
12 Liam Farrell
17 Oliver Partington
Subs (all used)
13 Kaide Ellis
15 Patrick Mago
20 Sam Eseh
25 Taylor Kerr
18th man (not used)
23 Kian McDermott
Also in 21-man-squad
22 Tom Forber
26 Nathan Lowe
33 George O’Loughlin

Tries: Field (3), Nsemba (15), Marsden (33), Farrimond (36), Wardle (38), Eckersley (70), Keighran (75)
Goals: Keighran 6/8
Sin bin: Patrick Mago (53) – tripping

SCORING SEQUENCE: 0-6, 0-12, 6-12, 6-14, 6-18, 6-24, 6-30; 10-30, 10-34, 16-34, 16-40

Rugby Leaguer & League Express Men of the Match
Dragons: Charlie Staines; Warriors: Junior Nsemba

Penalty count: 4-5
Half-time: 6-30
Referee: Chris Kendall
Attendance: 12,525