Wigan Warriors were strong favourites for the win as the
travelled to Perpignan to take over a Catalans Dragons side who had parted
company with their longstanding coach during the week and who were having a
disappointing season which see’s them in eighth position and in danger of
missing out on the playoffs.
Wigan have won the last four games between the two sides and
you must go back almost two years to find the last victory for the Dragons, but
this is the first meeting between the sides in 2025 and comes at an inopportune
moment for the home side.
Joel Tomkins was in temporary charge of the home side but
his brother, and Dragons talisman, Sam was still unavailable for selection.
It was all too easy for the Warriors as the opened their
account with barely three minutes on the clock, Jai Field dropping the shoulder
and sprinting through a gap to score a forty metre try with consummate ease. Adam
Keighran added the conversion for a 6-0 lead.
A Dragons ball steal gifted Keighran a simple penalty goal
to extend the lead on twelve.
A forty metre Liam Marshall break down the left wing allowed
him to give the supporting Sam Walter a walk-in try for Wigan’s second of the
afternoon. Keighran added the extras to extend the Wigan lead to fourteen
points.
Concerted Dragons pressure on the Wigan line around the twenty-minute
mark showed promise but after a wayward pass from Theo Fages was intercepted by
Liam Marshall the Wigan man cantered home from ninety metres for 18-0. Keighran
kicked his fourth successful kick of the afternoon for 20-0, Wigan cruising.
Eight minutes after the restart a brilliant run by Jake
Wardle created a simple walk-in try for Kruise Leeming, the hooker walking in
under the sticks from five metres out. Keighran found the mark again for 26-0, the
Dragons homes crushed.
The route continued on fifty-one with Junior Nsemba evading
two tackles before pushing away a third to smash the ball into the ground. Keighran
made it six from six for 32-0.
A superb Bevan French looping pass on the hour mark found
Liam Marshall on the overlap to walk over from twenty metres for his second of
the evening. Keighran recorded his first miss of the evening, but it no longer
mattered.
Wigan broke the forty on seventy-one, Bevan French waiting
on the shoulder of Keighran as he made a sixty-metre break to take the pass and
cross unopposed in the right corner. Keighran was back on target to make the score line 42-0.
Two minutes later Marshall broke down the left and with the
Dragons now walking in defence, he found Harry Smith with an inside pass to go
in. Keighran kicked his eighth goal of the match, Wigan two points short of the
fifty as the final hooter put the Dragons out of their misery.
It wasn’t the finest Wigan performance, but it was more than
enough to humiliate a poor Catalans Dragons side who have sunk just about as
low as they can go. The champions maintain the pressure on the Champions elect
at the top of the table and they have insulated themselves further from the
chasing pack. Several Wigan players had a quiet afternoon and they made many
unforced errors, against a better side it might have been a much closer affair
and Matt Peet will know that and be working on it over the next week.
Catalans Dragons: Aispuro-Bichet, Martin, Laguerre, Smith,
Yaha, Keary, Fages, Satae, Da Costa, Navarrete, Sims, Whitehead, Partington. Subs: Rougé, Séguier, Dezaria, Maria. 18th
Man: Descalzi.
Wigan Warriors: Field (T), Eckersley, Keighran (G 8/9),
Wardle, Marshall (2T), French (T), Smith (T), Byrne, O’Neill, Thompson, Nsemba
(T), Farrell, Ellis. Subs: Havard, Walters (T), Mago, Leeming (T). 18th
Man: Dupree.
Half-Time: 0-20.
Full-Time: 0-48.
Score Progression: 0-4, 0-6, 0-8, 0-12, 0-14, 0-18, 0-20 :
HT: 0-24, 0-26, 0-30, 0-32, 0-36, 0-40, 0-42, 0-46, 0-48 :FT.
Lead Exchanges: Wigan.
Referee: Jack Smith.
