Catalans Dragons 26 Leeds Rhinos 0

An injury ravaged Rhinos side battled hard in the Perpignan heat but lost to a strong Catalan outfit who conceded four tries without reply from the hosts.

Rohan Smith is without nine first-team players for the trip to the south of France, with youngsters Jack Smith and Alfie Edgell given the chance to impress.

Leeds started the game with great defensive intent as they came out on fire in the heat at Perpignan. The early stages of the game failed to get into any sort of flow with errors from both teams, with Jack Sinfield creating a half chance for the visitors with a dummy and break.

However, it was the Catalans who took the lead after 15 minutes when quick hands over the back line following a Rhinos error put Tom Davies in space to score in the corner. Arthur Mourgue added the conversion to give his side a 6-0 lead.

Back-to-back penalties against the Rhinos gave the Catalans the chance to extend their lead and Mourgue slotted home the penalty to make it 8-0 after 19 minutes.

The Catalans had a chance to extend their lead when Chris Satae spilled the ball with the line at his mercy after a challenge from Mikolaj Oledzki, who looked certain to score.

Leeds were grateful for some smart defending from Ash Handley when he tackled Mourgue at half-time just inside the Catalans’ half to give the Rhinos a chance to attack with ten minutes to go. The visitors got their reward when Sinfield’s fumble at the last, matched by the pursuit of Martin, Miller and Goudemand, caught Davies behind his own try line. Abdull’s short pull did not go for the ten and Leeds had a penalty 10 meters from the Dragons line. But the chance fell short when the short pass to Roberts dropped and it remained 8-0 at halftime.

The Rhinos withstood early pressure from the Catalans early in the second half when Ash Handley was caught behind his try line, but good defensive pressure forced an error from the Dragons as they tried to throw Johnstone across the sea

Leeds enjoyed their best period of pressure of the game after that with good work from Handley taking his team up the pitch. Leeds had a scrum 30 meters from the Dragons line after a Rhyse Martin offload was brought down, but at the first tackle Sinfield’s pass went behind the runner and Johnstone picked up the loose ball and raced 70 meters for to score his team’s second try. game. Mourgue added the conversion to make it 14-0 after 55 minutes.

Leeds continued to fight hard but were unable to find a way through the Catalans’ resolute defence. Unfortunately for the Rhinos, the scoring exploded in the last five minutes. The Dragons wrapped up the win with three minutes remaining when Mourgue cut through the defense before helping Miller to score between the posts. Then, with the final play of the game, Da Costa was awarded a try by the video referee. The on-field decision was the Try, which appeared to be crucial, with replays suggesting the substitute hooker lost his grip on the ball as he reached out to score. Mourge converted both tries to make the final score 26-0.