Last weekend we were treated to some great fixtures as Leeds Rhinos and Hull KR met in a golden point thriller, Wigan Warriors and Warrington Wolves collided in a fast paced affair whilst St Helens and Catalans Dragons met in perhaps the game of the season.
Described by some as a “Grand Final rehearsal” and repeatedly likened to a semi-final including by both coaches.
Catalans Dragons won the game thanks to tries from Tom Johnstone and Matt Ikuvalu gave the French side a famous win over the Super League and World Champions St Helens as the league leaders took another step towards the League Leaders’ Shield seeing off the late rally started by Lewis Dodd’s try.
The game recorded amazing viewing figures in France.
This match was broadcast in the UK on Sky Sports and in France on Team Live 1.
It recorded an average audience on Sky Sports of 253,330 viewers and a peak of 327,400 viewers.
This was second best and just behind the match between Wigan and Warrington broadcast in Prime time on Friday night.
St Helens vs Dragons ratings are also the third highest average audience on Sky Sports for a Super League match this season.
These figures do not yet include audiences made on the Live Team according to the club with audiences not communicated by the channel.
TV coverage of Catalans in France will continue until the end of the season with 4 of their next meetings are already scheduled on Sky Sports and L’Equipe Live.
Sky Sports are to provide live and exclusive coverage of two more Catalans Dragons home games from Perpignan in August and September, with the French club aiming to finish top of the Betfred Super League table for the second time in three seasons.
Both matches are potential blockbusters, kicking off with the Round 23 visit of Wigan Warriors to Stade Gilbert Brutus on Saturday August 26 is always a highlight of the Catalans’ season, and likely to be even more significant this season with the Dragons currently top of the table, and Wigan in and amongst it.
Then three weeks later in Round 26, there will be another Saturday evening showdown for Sky Sports viewers to enjoy, as Leeds Rhinos head for Perpignan with Rohan Smith’s team hoping for a repeat of last season’s late charge to the Play-Offs, and eventually to the Grand Final.
The kick-off of that match has been brought forward by an hour, to 5pm UK time (6pm in France) while the Wigan match will kick off as scheduled, at 6pm UK time (7pm France).
Sky Sports have already shown two Catalans home games this season, against Warrington Wolves on Easter Monday and St Helens in May, and have confirmed coverage of the return match against Saints at the Totally Wicked Stadium on Thursday 13 July.
So for fans who can’t afford plane tickets because of this sudden increase in price, they can watch the games on TV.