New-look Catalans Dragons click into gear in victory over Toulouse Olympique

CATALANS DRAGONS 42 TOULOUSE OLYMPIQUE 10
STEVE BRADY, Stade Gilbert Brutus, Saturday

COOL conditions in Perpignan couldn’t take the heat out of a Catalans side bristling with power, pace and precision courtesy of some star NRL recruits, young French newcomers and experienced veteran campaigners.

Hot and cold in the early stages, Les Dracs overcame a two-try deficit to confidently dispose of a brave Toulouse team packed with more modest acquisitions and a solid home-grown core.

It was always going to be difficult for the Championship side but despite the scoreline they never crumbled under the heavyweight Catalans attack.

In fact the visitors looked the brightest in the opening exchanges and were first on the scoreboard with a dynamic burst, two tackle breaks and a try for centre Reubenn Rennie, converted by Jake Shorrocks in the tenth minute.

The visitors continued to press and Rennie stunned the home crowd with his second strike from a Shorrocks short pass three minutes later which seemed to sting the Super League side into action.

First, winger Nick Cotric evaded two tackles and got his debut try after clever work from Sam Tomkins, with Arthur Mourgue’s conversion attempt bouncing back off the post.

Then fellow Aussie debutant Tevita Pangai Jr burst into action, involved twice in the build-up then slipping the ball into the arms of captain Ben Garcia for a 23rd-minute try which, with Morgue on target this time with the kick, levelled the scores.

Cotric collected his second strike three minutes later thanks to good work from his centre Arthur Romano, then Pangai Jr finished off a powerful burst between the posts with a try of his own five minutes before the interval as two Morgue conversions made it 22-10.

Toulouse captain Anthony Marion had to leave the field with blood pouring from a head injury and Catalans took advantage when Luke Keary intercepted and shipped the ball out to centre Reimis Smith, making it 26-10 at the break.

Coach Steve McNamara rang the changes at half-time, bringing on a group of French teenagers who continued to create havoc with the opposition.

But it was an old-stager who created the next score. Tomkins took control and he created the space for winger Fouad Yaha to extend the Dragons’ lead in the 49th minute with a cameo touchdown in the right corner, too wide for Mourgue to convert.

Back came the Bleus with a promising break by Rennie but his pass couldn’t find winger Paul Ulberg, then young substitute Hakim Belhadri came close but the Dragons’ defence remained intact.

Another young sub, Clément Martin, showed the way in the 60th minute when he scored on his first Catalans appearance following a sweeping team attacking move, Mourgue converting for 36-10.

Toulouse continued to battle bravely, forcing the Dragons into a drop-out from behind their own posts, but couldn’t keep up the resistance as Théo Fages found a killer pass to put César Rougé over the line, and the young halfback converted his own try to push the scoreline to 42-10.

It was a timely training romp for both teams with big ambitions in their respective different divisions, although Catalans suffered injuries to Smith (adductor) and Romano (calf) which could see both centres miss the start of the Super League season.

GAMESTAR: Luke Keary oozes class and his every touch was greeted with an intake of breath by Catalans fans – could he be ‘the one’ in a long line of halfbacks from down under to bring league glory to Perpignan?

GAMEBREAKER: Nick Cotric scores tries for fun and he was all smiles following his first-half double-strike which settled his team-mates’ nerves after Toulouse went 10-0 in front.

MATCHFACTS
DRAGONS
1 Sam Tomkins
5 Nick Cotric
3 Arthur Romano
4 Reimis Smith
22 Fouad Yaha
6 Luke Keary
7 Arthur Mourgue
16 Romain Navarrete
9 Ben Garcia
15 Tevita Satae
11 Tariq Sims
17 Bayley Sironen
13 Oliver Partington
Subs (all used)
28 Clément Martin
21 Théo Fages
8 Tevita Pangai Jnr
10 Julian Bousquet
14 Alrix Da Costa
18 César Rougé
19 Paul Séguier
24 Franck Maria
27 Yacine Ben Abdeslem
– Léo Darrelatour
– Timéo Portier

Tries: Cotric (20, 26), Garcia (23), Pangai Jnr (35), Smith (39), Yaha (49), Martin (60), Rougé (76)
Goals: Mourgue 4/7, Rougé 1/1

OLYMPIQUE
1 Olly Ashall-Bott
19 Benjamin Laguerre
28 Roméo Tropis
3 Reubenn Rennie
2 Paul Ulberg
13 Anthony Marion
7 Jake Shorrocks
10 James Roumanos
9 Calum Gahan
17 Rob Butler
4 Mathieu Jussaume
11 Maxime Stefani
15 Joe Cator
Subs (all used)
14 Baptiste Rodriguez
16 Joe Bretherton
20 Greg Richards
23 Robin Brochon
25 Hakim Belhardi
26 Stéphane Guillon
29 Wail Skoundri