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1 hour ago
Betfred Super League
Catalans (1) 11
Tries: Smith (2) Goals: Mourgue Drop Goals: Keary
Leeds (0) 0
Tries: – Goals: –
Catalans Dragons secured their first victory of the Super League season with a largely forgettable 11-0 victory over an error-prone Leeds Rhinos at Stade Gilbert Brutus.
In a wet first half largely made up of errors, penalties and unsuccessful captain’s challenges, the only points came from the boot of Catalans’ Luke Keary, dropping a goal on the verge of half-time.
Reimis Smith finally broke the try deadlock early in the second half following a break from the rampaging Chris Satae before a cross-field kick from Theo Fages fell nicely for the Australian to dot down for his second score of the night.
The result continues the Rhinos’ miserable away record in southern France, with Brad Arthur’s men returning to Yorkshire scoreless for the third successive year.
With neither side able to breach the opposition’s defence, what significant moments there were in the first half seemed to involve referee Aaron Moore.
With the error count rising and the penalty count with it, Moore ruled on two unsuccessful captain’s challenges before eventually reaching into his pocket.
Catalans’ Romain Navarette was the first to see yellow when he was adjudged to have committed a dangerous hip-drop tackle on Rhinos hooker Andy Ackers.
The visitors were unable to take advantage of the extra man, as Jake Connor was then sent to the bin for a dangerous tackle.
The best attacking opportunity of the half fell to Leeds on the verge of half-time. James McDonnell’s innocuous kick ahead was gathered by Matt Frawley to dot down over the line, as two confused Catalans defenders seemingly left the ball for each other.
But following a video replay, the score was then ruled out as Frawley was adjudged to have been offside.
As the half ran out, Keary fired a perfectly judged drop goal through the posts to give the home side a barely deserved lead.
Smith on the charge
The game was crying out for a try and it was the home side that duly obliged just after the break.
Satae exploited James Bentley’s slip, charging into the Rhinos half. Leeds then recovered the ball in the ensuing phases only for Harry Newman to lose it in contact, allowing Catalans’ Smith to gather and fight his way over the line despite the attention of multiple Rhinos defenders.
The Dragons almost had a second minutes later. Tariq Sims’ half-break brought the home side well into Rhinos territory, before a pinpoint cross-field kick from Keary saw Riley Lumb barely able to get to the ball before Tommy Makinson, preventing an almost certain score.
Leeds were simply unable to get into any attacking rhythm, with repeated sets of six coming up empty, including for a promising attack at the beginning of the fourth quarter that ended with a knock-on from a diving Ethan Clark-Wood.
The visitors were then made to pay further. On the final tackle, Theo Fages kicked for the corner with the ball being contested by three players.
Clark-Wood’s attempted catch only resulted in the ball being knocked backward towards the tryline, allowing Smith to gather and dot down for his second.
As the game opened up in the final minutes, the home side almost added a third.
Nick Cotric recovered a speculative kick to the corner and looked set to feed Sims only for his pass to go agonisingly forward with the tryline at his mercy.
With the victory, Catalans move up to ninth in the table, while Leeds remain sixth.
Catalans: Mourgue, Makinson, Laguerre, Smith, Cotric; Keary, Fages; Pangai Jr, Garcia, Bousquet, Sims, Whitehead, Partington.
Interchanges: Da Costa, Satae, Navarrete, Seguier.
Yellow card: Navarrete.
Leeds: Connor, Lumb, Newman, Handley, Clark-Wood; Croft, Frawley; Oledzki, Ackers, Palasia, Gannon, McDonnell, Bentley.
Interchanges: O’Connor, Lisone, Jenkins, Sinfield.
Yellow Card: Connor.
Referee: Aaron Moore
