Super League friendly ends 88-6 ahead of new season

Catalans Dragons won their final pre-season friendly a whopping 88-6 bringing up a question of whether it was a worthwhile experience for the Dragons and whether or not the club need to be supported in pre-season.

They were taking on an All Stars line-up from the Elite One Championship. The President’s XIII scored in the first minute following an error by Arthur Mourgue. Clément Herrero finishes down the right and converts to make it 0-6.

The Catalan response came very quickly thanks to Jordan Abdull who faked the pass. In the aftermath, Romain Navarrete took advantage of the work of the other forwards to give the Catalans Dragons the lead. Both tries were converted by Arthur Mourgue and the score was 12-6.

The Elite 1 selection was overwhelmed and Arthur Romano scored at the end of the line while there was still Tom Johnstone to make up the number. Five minutes later, Arthur Mourgue’s breakthrough hit the target and he set up Jayden Nikorima for his first try. Just before the half-hour mark, Jordan Abdull’s kick found Tom Johnstone for the fifth try. Everything was converted by the home scorer to bring the score to 30-6.

The President’s XIII couldn’t contain the Dragons and Matt Ikuvalu scored on the right side on a pass from Chris Satae. Arthur Mourgue converted and Tom Johnstone finished it off for the Catalan franchise’s seventh try. With the two points from the conversion, the Catalans lead 42-6 at the break.

Fouad Yaha came on at half-time and provided two assists in a matter of minutes. The French winger made the same move twice where he took the defence from behind on his wing before feeding first Jordan Abdull and then Jayden Nikorima a few minutes later. Arthur Mourgue converted twice, 54-6.

Alrix da Costa scored the 10th try from behind the ball and then it was Fouad Yaha who scored at the end of the line. Both kicks went through, 66-6. Fouad Yaha scored two more tries to complete a hat-trick, as did Jayden Nikorima who scored his third personal try. In the meantime, Arthur Romano had also scored his brace. Arthur Mourgue converted three of the four tries for a final score of 88–6.

Concerns for Super League title challengers

Other than the concern of the game being a worthwhile experience for the Dragons is the concern that two key men didn’t feature.

New signing from Huddersfield Giants and former St Helens and Salford Red Devils star Theo Fages didn’t feature. A former Super League Champion, he is seen as the ideal replacement for Mitchell Pearce but didn’t feature though Hull KR loanee Jordan Abdull is. He returned to the stadium where he made his England debut back in 2021 against France.

Meanwhile, hooker Michael McIlorum was also absent for the game putting early strain on the Dragons spine.