After an enthralling battle in the south of France, Catalans Dragons have beaten Hull KR to claim their third win of the season.
A depleted Dragons side had to do it through, and player the majority of the second half with only one fit substitute, but after being 20-6 up at the hour mark looked in total control.
However, KR staged a late comeback to go level with five minutes to go thanks to tries from Joe Burgess and Tom Amone.
With two minutes to go, a sensational score from winger Lenny Marc sealed the win for the French side in the most incredible fashion.
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Catalans Dragons v Hull KR talking points
Burnt out Robins:
A claim could be made that Hull KR were worn out in this game, and their early season ventures have began to catch up with them.
The World Club Challenge and Vegas will no doubt have taken their toll, and perhaps KR made an error in not resting some of their players in the two games against Huddersfield Giants.
In the first half alone, Peters’ men missed a huge 34 tackles and made seven errors, two stats that are way off the expectation levels of the treble winners.
Soft tries were conceded in both halves, and their effort overall was a shadow of what the Robins have been known for in recent seasons.
Catalans Concern:
Catalans have suffered a number of injuries from this game, with the majority coming in their forward pack. In what was a horror five-minute spell, Josh Allen and Julian Bousquet both went off for HIA’s, with the latter colliding with his own teammate after only entering the field moments earlier. Both of those failed their respective tests, meaning the pair will miss next week’s tie with Hull FC as well.
Mathieu Laguerre also suffered a lower leg injury and was helped from the field. The centre-turned-back-rower was another member of that pack to go off injured, leaving Joel Tomkins’ side light through the middle.
To make matters worse, Lewis Dodd suffered a knee injury, and despite playing on eventually succumbed to the blow and left the field after 50 minutes. Kruise Leeming moved into the halves, and whilst Harvey Wilson came in at 18th man, it left Catalans with only one fit substitute for the final half hour.
Valiant Dragons:
Despite all their injury worries, Catalans did brilliantly to not only stay on top in the tie but to keep KR at bay, and whilst the Robins did manage to even the scores their efforts ensured that it would be them going home with the two points.
The likes of Chris Satae and Zac Lipowicz, who scored two tries in the tie, were in sensational form, whilst the likes of Charlie Staines and Toby Sexton led their side around the park and controlled the game enough to see out the win.
The pack had to play extended minutes due to injury, but Joel Tomkins will no doubt be pleased with his side’s performance – which is undoubtedly their best of his tenure as head coach.
100 up for Dodd:
Whilst injury forced him off the field early, Dodd made his 100th career appearance in this game, and was involved in a number of tries for his side this evening. After providing the assist for Lipowicz’s first try, he combined with Toby Sexton to send the back rower over for his second, after a strong run from Chris Satae gave them great field position.
Dodd is taking his second Super League opportunity with both hands, and is starting to thrive under Joel Tomkins after an underwhelming showing in the NRL.
The former St Helens man has made 88 appearances for the Red Vee, six for South Sydney Rabbitohs and six for Catalans.
