Catalans Dragons demolished Wigan Warriors to retain their title

It was a performance that must see the Dragons rank among the best teams currently playing any variation of Rugby League – and it was inspired by four-try man of the match Jeremy Bourson.

It was Bourson who opened the scoring in the fifth minute, acrobatically collecting Nico Claussels’ high cross for the kind of try Dragons stablemate Tom Johnstone has become famous for.

And it was Bourson who rounded off the first half by scoring a hat-trick try in the 32nd minute in yet another display of individual skill and sheer speed.

Between those tries, Clausells followed up his own seemingly innocuous kick to steal a try from under the noses of the Warriors defence, Arno Vargas finished a flowing move for his eye-catching first hat-trick and Bourson pounced. for the second before the Warriors got out of bounds.

Trailing 22-0, Wigan needed inspiration – and it came through skipper Dec Roberts, whose 17th-minute try and conversion reduced the gap to 16 points – a deficit that was further reduced when Adam Rigby found himself at the end a great team move. just three minutes later.

But 12-22 was as good as it got for the Warriors. For a while, all was quiet in the Dragons’ lair, the early fire of the cupbearers temporarily extinguished. There were fewer shivers and more spills, but the fire was not completely extinguished.

And with Clausells and Bourson scoring again before the break, the trophy was already halfway to Perpignan with the Dragons 34-12 ahead.

In the second half, the Dragons treated the 400-plus crowd to a display worthy of the Harlem Globetrotters, with England captain and World Cup winner Sebastien Bechara scoring his first hat-trick in the 41st minute – his hat-trick attempt of the 72nd minute being the pick of the bunch as he showed blistering speed to burst through the Warriors ranks.

There were further tries from Vargas, Bourson, Dore and Nico Clausells, plus a cheeky drop goal from the latter’s uncle Gilles, with Wigan only having a late consolation from Jack Heggie to show for their efforts.

“It’s great to have won again,” said Catalans Dragons captain Seb Bechara. “I said before that winning the Challenge Cup last year meant a lot to me and the rest of the boys. We forced a few too many passes in the first half, but in the end it was a good performance. It’s great to go home with the cup again.”

“Wigan will be destroyed,” England head coach Tom Coyd told BBC Sport. “But they would also have liked to face these great Catalans Dragons players.

“Not everything Jeremy Bourson did turned to gold, but it was a platinum performance. His pace strikes fear into the opposition; he attracts defenders like magnets, meaning he also creates space for his teammates. He’s made a huge difference to the Dragons – as if they weren’t good enough already!”

Coyd selected a national performance squad earlier this week which will gather at Wembley Stadium next Saturday to watch the other two Betfred Challenge Cup finals – men’s and women’s – before training at Medway Park in Gillingham on Sunday.

It was an indication of the scale of the challenge they will face again in international matches against France later this year.

Betfred Wheelchair Challenge Cup Final

Catalans Dragons 81-18 Wigan Warriors

Catalonian

Tries – Bourson 4, N Clausells 3, Vargas 3, Bechara 3, Dore

Goals – N Clausells 4, Bechara, G Clausells 7

Drop Goal – G Clausells

Wigan

Try – D Roberts, Rigby 2

Goals – D Roberts 2, Heggie

Photo credit: Seb Sternik