Catalans Dragons were hammered 48-0 by Wigan Warriors in their first game since the departure of Steve McNamara on Saturday.
Liam Marshall scored twice on the day, while Jai Field, Sam Walters, Junior Nsemba, Kruise Leeming, Bevan French and Harry Smith all touched down on what was a comfortable evening for the Cherry and Whites.
Here’s just some of the talking points to emerge from the clash.
Wigan in cruise control
The Warriors hardly got out of second gear in the south of France and they didn’t need to in order to rack up a big score and get the two points they needed to keep up the heat on Hull KR. Catalans were lacklustre throughout as they began life without Steve McNamara and in truth, they made life easy for their hosts.
Wigan were celebrating just three minutes into the contest as Jai Field exploited a crooked defensive line off a scrum to finish from distance before Liam Marshall burst away down the same edge to set up Sam Walters.
Marshall got a try of his own in the first half as he collected a looping Theo Fages pass to touch down from 85m. Kruise Leeming, Junior Nsemba touched down in the second half and Marshall found his brace before Bevan French found his obligatory try. Harry Smith rounded off the scoring for the Warriors.
It was comfortable but it wasn’t always pretty from the Warriors and while Matt Peet will be pleased to be heading back to the north west of England with the points, he might be keen to address a few things with Wigan committing a number of errors against their subpar hosts at times.
Tomkins has work cut out
Eyes were on Catalans to see how they would react to Steve McNamara’s sacking, but the bounce that often comes with a change of head coach just didn’t materialise. The Dragons were laboured, lacklustre, scrappy and quite frankly terrible to watch as they simply rolled over for Wigan to rack up a one-sided scoreline.
They had a spell of pressure in the first half but they never looked like actually getting over the line and their only piece of sustained pressure resulted in Marshall’s interception try.
We’re still waiting for clarity from the club but if Tomkins is the man to lead this side through the remainder of the season, he has his work cut out to turn this Catalans side around and get them playing after what was easily the worst performance of the season so far.
Huge selection calls made
Joel Tomkins provided a big surprise when he named a team without Tevita Pangai Jr for the clash with Wigan Warriors. The prop has had a big role to play for the Dragons this season, but he has struggled for form in recent weeks, just as Catalans have, and the stand in head coach opted to take him out of the team.
There was no Tommy Makinson or Nick Cotric either, but the reason for their absence is unclear. For Makinson at least, it seems injury is to blame given he missed the loss to St Helens last week.
Sam Walters blow
The win in the south of France came at a price for the Warriors with Sam Walters picking up what looked like a lower leg injury towards the end of the first half. Walters came off the bench early on to replace Luke Thompson but was forced off the field before his night was confirmed to be over at the start of the second half.
There was a boost for Matt Peet, though, as Ethan Havard made a successful return to action. The prop came off the bench to make his first appearance of the season after overcoming the hamstring injury he sustained in pre-season.
It should be noted that Luke Thompson left the field in the 13th minute and didn’t return.
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A huge win to nil in the South of France as we bring home the two points!#WWRL #SLCATWIG pic.twitter.com/T7lo4cSYR2
— Wigan Warriors 🍒⚪️ (@WiganWarriorsRL) May 24, 2025
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