T : Adam Swift, Zeb Taia, Aaron Smith, Théo Fages, Dominique Peyroux, Matty Costello 3, Jack Welsby
G : Danny Richardson 7
Catalans Dragons (10) 14
T : Brayden Wiliame 2, Lewis Tierney
G : Sam Tomkins
Didn't this happen last time we planned a camp in the UK for a week? We got hammered at Wakefield (if I remember correctly) and Bernard was that angry he sent them home.
I believe they are still on the Island and licking their wounds ahead of a visit to Hull.
This one was close until after half time when the Saints accelerated away to take the game.
The Catalans maintain their third place in the table with this win over bottom side TOxii.
St Estève XIII Catalan (16) 38
T : R. Franco, Martin 2, Ambert 2, Mourgue, Belmas
G : J. Guasch 5 Toulouse (14) 30
T : Sangaré 2, Jocelyn 3
G : J. Bouscayrol 3, Fourquet
It was closer than expected, but Catalans got home against TOxii in this one.
Line-ups
St Estève XIII Catalan : Brochon, Martin, Square, Ambert, R. Franco, J. Guasch, Mourgue, Belmas, Meresta-Doucet, Salabio, Cam, Séguier, S. Bled
Subs: Zafra, Vailhen, B. Tougé, Cozza
The Dragons finally managed to string two performances and two results together over the Easter period.
A potentially tricky looking away journey to London (who we could well have played into form) was navigated with consummate ease and no little flair, before a below par Castleford were swept away at the Stade Gilbert Brutus.
The London match has always been a special one for us Southern Englanders and despite me having moved further North in recent times, I want us to beat them.
In fact I've been annoyed with the Broncos since my first visit to watch them play Dracs at the Stoop many years ago when a loud woman behind me kept advocating that Louis McCarthy-Scarsbrook "smash people into next week".
The following Easter was my first Sang-et-Or assignment on the Twitter feed and I incurred the wrath of the Dureau family when I criticised a missed conversion from Scott. Libby and Dennis were soon replying to my output and it was a valuable lesson learned!
We did get to meet Damian Blanch after the game which was a dream come true for me being a massive fan boi.
I seem to remember the final year of their previous Superleague spell saw them playing at Barnet (with I think Tony Gigot and Josh Drinkwater in their side) and a win for Dragons that was far closer than it should have been.
Olivier Elima was the hero we met after the game and its always worth mentioning that the picture of my wife and he still adorns the coffee mug she uses each morning.
This one was over well before the end of the game with Matt Whitely starring and scoring two tries along with an eye catching display from Arthur Romano.
London Broncos (0) 6
T : Mark Ioane
G : Morgan Smith
DG :
Catalans Dragons (14) 39
T : Matt Whitley 2, Lewis Tierney, Greg Bird, Arthur Romano, Sam Tomkins
G : Sam Tomkins 7
DG : Sam Tomkins
We should have kept them off the scoreboard to be honest, but aside from some excellent tries and running rugby, Eloi Pellisier getting sent to the sin bin against his former club was an amusing highlight.
The final game of the Easter period saw Castleford vist in a game that was memorable for the weather in the South of France reportedly being colder than the temperature the Tigers had left Yorkshire from.
Catalans Dragons (12) 37
T : Julian Bousquet 2, Tony Gigot, Greg Bird, Matt Whitley, Sam Tomkins
G : Sam Tomkins 6
DG : Tony Gigot
Castleford Tigers (4) 16
T : Greg Eden 2, Cory Aston
G : Peter Mata’utia 2
DG :
Unlike a number of recent home matches, the Dragons got off to a good start and built a decent lead in the match thanks to a combination of strong forward running, a bit of flair at the back and aggressive defence.
The Tigers were weakened by injury, but to fair, so were we. We hope that this is a sign of a bit more consistency coming into the Dragons play. The idea that we will hit massive highs and scale horrible depths fills me with a bit of trepidation!
In a match that was supposed to be the curtain raiser to the mens Superleague clash (before some dodgy weather meant it was moved until after), Cas Tigers ladies were too strong for the so-called Dragonettes in this HER RL Trophy match.
St Estève XIII Catalan (6) 6
T : Fanny Ramos
G : Ophélie Coll
Castleford Tigers (20) 54
T : Roche, Pointon 3, Eastwood, Gentles 2, Marshall, Owen, Lumley
G : Stanley 7
Regardless of the final score, this is a massive step forward for the Womens game and we will be following the Dragonettes going forward.
To celebrate the publicity of this match we will be adding a link to their fixtures and results on the left of the website homepage.
That long winning run seems a long time ago now as a second consecutive defeat (including last week at le weekend magique) sees the Catalans slip down to third.
Carcassonne now lead Elite 1 with Lezignan jumping over us into second after winning this one.
Lézignan (8) 36
T : Tort, Lacans, Li. Albert, A. Miloudi 2, Stacul
G : T Bouzinac 3, Tribillac 3
We have been in contact with the organisers behind the UK Dragons Supporters Club and are really happy to be throwing our weight behind it in any which way we can.
There has been a really strong and positive uptake in numbers wanting to join and we would like to officially encourage anyone who has yet to join to send that email and get involved!
After a comprehensive defeat away to Wigan the previous weekend and a performance that finally saw Steve McNamara publicly blow his top, Dragons weren't expected to trouble St Helens too much on Saturday evening.
Despite some high profile absentees, Saints looked way too strong for a confidence drained Dragons and even the breezy, rainy weather seemed to favour the visitors.
The start had a familiar look about it with a Saints try although parity was soon restored when Little Sam Tomkins deft kick saw Fouad Yaha dot down in the corner for a score.
Tommy Makinson added a second for Saints when Yaha slipped before Sam Tomkins levelled it up.
There were some missed kicks and landed kicks and lots of excellent goal line defence before Tony Gigot finally got his 2019 season up and running with a great finish from some excellent Lucas Albert play.
Despite Saints throwing everything at the Dragons in the closing moments, we held on yay!!
It was a brilliantly crafted and executed win and shows that there could still be some life left in the Dragons season. They just need to be more consistent and maybe stick with the new positions after the much vaunted Little Sam/Tony G swap happened.
