Wigan Warriors have moved top of the league but only on points difference with Catalans Dragons and St Helens also in the running at the top and with big games coming such as when the Warriors take on play off chasing Leeds Rhinos this weekend.
Catalans had a big game against Hull KR this past weekend as they wanted to get back on the horse following a disappointment against Wigan.
But the Dragons were beaten by Hull KR in retro round and making matters worse, due to what is being described as a breakdown, the Dragons’ flight could not land at Perpignan instead landing at Montpellier before a night of brutal travel exacerbating a crushing defeat.
The Robins had a chance to go in front early when they got a penalty inside the Dragons’ 20 but it came to no avail and just minutes later Catalans forced an error of their own, creating a six again and territory for Romain Navarrete to crash over and open the scoring after five minutes.
Rovers got another strong set in territory following a Yaha knock on and this time they did capitalise with the ball being shifted left allowing captain Shaun Kenny-Dowall to dance through and score.
Just after the twenty minute mark Catalans opted for two to open up a lead and then five minutes later they extended once again through captain Ben Garcia who forced his way over from short range to make the score 14-6.
The Robins did hit back before half time though through Kane Linnett which saw the teams go into half time with just two points separating them at 14-12.
It didn’t take long for a second half score though and it came for the home side with Jack Walker scoring just two minutes into the second half, a brilliant try that was converted via the help of the crossbar from Brad Schneider to make the game 18-14 to the home side.
Schneider then had more kicking duties five minutes later following a Catalans penalty and he nailed it to extend the lead to one converted try.
That six point lead was cut to just two when Fouad Yaha scored in the corner minutes later, but thankfully for the home side the conversion was missed by Adam Keighran to leave the score at 20-18 with half an hour to go.
The Robins then got quite lucky as Julian Bousquet was judged to have knocked on when reaching for the line, with former Hull FC man Manu Ma’u sin binned for a high shot on Tom Opacic.
With a man advantage it was a major chance for the Robins to take advantage and they did so through talisman Mikey Lewis who was the beneficiary of a big carry from Rhys Kennedy.
Schneider added the extras to make the lead 26-18 with Rovers still a man up for seven of the remaining seventeen minutes.
Despite the man advantage it was the Robins who were under the pump and they defended back to back goal line drop outs during the period in which they had a man advantage, but the return of Manu Ma’u from his sin bin set up a tense final ten at Craven Park.
It was a final ten minutes that Rovers saw out despite the nerves with the win sending them back into the playoffs and up to fifth, ahead of Salford and Warrington with the latter having a game in hand.
It was a second straight loss for Catalans and one that saw them sacrifice top spot with Wigan Warriors winning against Salford and heading top.
The 26-18 win for Rovers was coupled with a 26-8 win for Wigan over Salford, both teams doing each other a favour.
