Wigan Warriors scored two try-of-the-season contenders in as many minutes in their 40-16 thrashing of Catalans Dragons in Paris
The newly-crowned Challenge Cup champions showed no signs of a hangover, and took just three minutes to get some points on the board, doing so via full-back Jai Field.
Junior Nsemba crossed next, before Solomona Faataape got the proverbial home side back into the contest.
Then, a costly sin-bin for Dragons’ Chris Satae saw Wigan score three times in the final 10 minutes of the first half to give the side a 30-6 lead at half-time.
The second half saw Wigan take a fair bit of time to add to their lead, but would do so eventually, scoring through Zach Eckersley and Adam Keighran.
Here are the big talking points to come from this afternoon’s game, with Wigan’s spine pairing, the Satae sin-bin and the development of French rugby league among them.
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Wigan Warriors v Catalans Dragons talking points
Hangover? What hangover:
Just seven days after becoming 22-time Challenge Cup winners, plenty expected there to be some sort of drop-off from Wigan, especially when you consider the travel to Paris as well.
However, their seven-try display proves the opposite of that, with Matt Peet’s side being near-perfect from minute one to minute 80.
The same can’t be said for Hull KR, who suffered defeat to Wakefield Trinity earlier this afternoon.
Wigan take on Trinity next week, in what will be yet another test of a Warriors side who have been arguably the form team of the competition over the last month.
Magic Marsden:
In just his third game of Super League, George Marsden produced a tremendous display in the halves, as he partnered Jack Farrimond.
The 17-year-old made his mark instantly, producing the pass that allowed Junior Nsemba to offload to Field for the opening try. He then put in the kick that allowed Nsemba to reach high than everyone else and dot down on 15 minutes.
Later in the half, he scored his first try at the top level, and did so in tremendous fashion. Receiving an offload from Farrimond, he scored a wonder solo try to beat multiple Catalans defenders before scoring in the corner.
Farrimond’s try-of-the-season score:
Following Marsden’s sublime effort, Farrimond produced a four-pointer of his own to increase that Wigan margin even further.
Channelling his inner Richie Myler for Warrington v Wigan in 2015, the half-back kicked through to himself, and then magnificently tipped the ball over the head of Charlie Staines. The finish was equally as impressive, with the 20-year-old diving over acrobatically, doing a front flip in the process.
Satae’s shocker:
The huge turning point of the game was undoubtedly Satae’s yellow card. After only entering the field from the bench just minutes prior, the former Hull FC man knocked the ball on, before giving away a penalty, losing a Captain’s Challenge and getting sin-binned all in the same encounter.
The sin-bin would prove costly, as when he left the field Catalans were 12-6 down. When he returned, the score had changed to 30-6.
A player of his experience shouldn’t be hurting his side as much as that, and Satae earned the yellow for trying to utilise a rare ruling…
He would make up for his error late on in the second half, scoring a try, however that would prove to be mere consolation
Failed Captain’s Challenge loophole:
After a potential knock-on from Wigan was missed by on-field referee Chris Kendall, Satae decided to lie on for far too long in the next tackle and willingly concede a penalty.
Once the whistle was blown, Dragons used their captain’s challenge to try and get the knock-on overturned, but video referee Marcus Griffiths deemed the play to be a loose carry as opposed to a ball steal.
As well as the unsuccessful challenge,
Double injury blow:
Catalans were dealt two injury concerns from their failed trip to Paris. Ben Garcia left the field with a rib injury and looked in some discomfort, before Matty Russell left the field with what looked like a lower leg injury.
Both of those will be key misses to the side, and for Russell especially, it is yet another injury in a career that had so much potential had he been able to stay on the field a little more often.
The good news for the Dragons is that Tommy Makinson is expected to return to the side next week against Castleford.
French rugby league in safe hands:
Regardless of the result today, it’s safe to say that the development and growth of French rugby league was fully on show.
From Paris Saint-Germain 30 years ago to 20 years of Catalans, France is a key part of the sport, and the ability to get healthy crowds in Paris shows just that.
From Thomas Bosc to Julian Bousquet, there have been many influential figures on and off the field. Whilst it may not have been their day today, the Dragons’ value to Super League is there for all to see, despite some doubters within the rugby league world.
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