Catalans Dragons vs Wigan Warriors player ratings as two men score 8/10

Wigan Warriors succeeded in keeping the pressure up on Super League leaders Hull KR on Saturday night as they beat Catalans Dragons 26-18.

The Warriors, who were well supported in the south of France, needed to pick up two points at the Stade Gilbert Brutus in order to peg back the Robins and restore point parity in the battle for the League Leaders’ Shield. The win sets up next Friday’s clash at the Brick Community Stadium perfectly as the top two go head to head in what could be a top spot decider.

It was Matt Peet’s side who started the faster of the two in Perpignan as Jake Wardle broke the line before looking inside to Adam Keighran, who in turn put Jai Field over the line for the opening try of the game.

Catalans completed a remarkable turnaround, though, and it came out of absolute nowhere as Fouad Yaha burst through the middle and touched down from 60 yards before Theo Fages put the home side in front as he capitalised on a Liam Marshall error.

Tom Forber hit back to level things up before the break and Wigan managed to seize control in the minutes that followed the interval. Running a line against the grain, Junior Nsemba put the Warriors ahead with a powerful effort and that came just a few minutes before Keighran touched down after some fine play by Field and Liam Marshall.

Arthur Romano went over with two minutes remaining but by that point it was nothing more than a consolation.

Star man

Junior Nsemba. The youngster was a constant thorn in the side of Catalans with his size and power proving difficult to handle. He took his try very well and produced some fine defensive work, too.

Key moment

With the scores level, it was Nsemba’s try in the 43rd minute that saw Wigan really assert their dominance in the contest. Keighran scored just a few minutes later and from there the Cherry and Whites never looked back.

Player ratings

Catalans Dragons: Cesar Rouge 6, Tom Davies 6, Arthur Romano 6, Matthieu Laguerre 6, Fouad Yaha 7, Arthur Mourgue 6, Theo Fages 6, Romain Navarette 6, Alrix Da Costa 6, Julian Bousquet 7, Mike McMeeken 7, Bayley Sironen 6, Benjamin Garcia 7.

Bench: Paul Seguier 6, Chris Satae 7, Jordan Dezaria 6, Guillermo Aispuro-Bichet.

Wigan Warriors: Jai Field 7, Abbas Miski 6, Zach Eckersley 7, Jake Wardle 8, Liam Marshall 6, Bevan French 6, Adam Keighran 6, Ethan Havard 7, Kruise Leeming 6, Luke Thompson 7, Sam Walters 7, Junior Nsemba 8, Kaide Ellis 7.

Bench: Liam Byrne 6, Patrick Mago 6, Tyler Dupree 6, Tom Forber 7.