Both the Catalans Dragons and Hull Kingston Rovers could finish round eight at the top of the league as they met in the south of France for arguably the tie of the round, the Dragons needing just a win to go two points clear at the top, KR needing to win by a forty-point margin to jump four places.

The bookies favoured a home win, handicapping the Dragons by six points on the coupon, but the Robins are it making up the numbers in 2024 and were looking to take the two points to lift themselves level on league points with the four sides ahead of them.

The atmosphere was electric as the two sides took to the field.

Rivals round threw together two rivals whose rivalry wasn’t based on geography as the Warrington Wolves took on the Catalans Dragons at the Halliwell-Jones Stadium in a top of the table battle which would see the winner draw level with St Helens in top spot.

The Dragons won the encounter between the two sides in the south of France on the opening weekend, but the Wolves are starting to find some form in recent weeks.

The Wolves were slight favourites with the bookies for the win and had been handicapped by four points on the coupon but there really was very little to choose between the two sides as the neutrals settled down to watch a close game between two competitive sides with Grand Final aspirations.

It was a round one baptism of fire for Sam Burgess’s Warrington Wolves as they hopped on the place to Perpignan for a Saturday evening encounter with the Catalans Dragons who went into battle for the first time in the post-Tomkins era.

There is no denying that Burgess was a giant of the game as a player, having battled for ten years at the top of the Australian game, but fans of Warrington and neutrals alike were wondering how his no-nonsense playing style would translate into his coaching ethos.

Pre-match the bookies were struggling to pick a side and gave the visitors just a four-point start on the coupon as it promised to be a great season opening battle in front of the partisan Dragons crowd in the South of France.

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The bookies had made the Catalans Dragons slight favourites ahead of tonight’s final eliminator against a Saints side looking for their fifth consecutive Old Trafford appearance and potentially a fifth consecutive Grand Final win.

The two sides last met in July at the Totally Wicked Stadium when the Dragons secured a 14-12 win with the season’s previous meeting at the Stade Gilbert Brutus at the beginning of May also witnessing a Dragons win, by 24-12 on that occasion.

Steve McNamara’s side have had a week off to prepare for their big game, and once which they will have been building towards for the last month, while Saints had a tough run out last weekend in the opening round of the playoffs when they beat Warrington Wolves by 16-8.

The tie of the Rivals round saw top side Warrington Wolves travel to the Catalans Dragons and enter the cauldron of the Stade Gilbert Brutus looking to maintain their perfect start to the season against a side who were looking to draw level on league points with their opponents.

The bookies and pundits fancied a Warrington win but with the Dragons only having been given a six-point start on the handicap coupon they were not convinced of their own odds setting.

A Dragons win would lift them level on points with the Wolves and a win by forty-one points or more would see them end the Easter weekend at the top of the pile, but a loss would see their opponents opening up a four-point gap at the top of the table at the quarter point of the season.

Hull KR had this week’s trip to France to take on a high-flying Catalans Dragons who were seeking a win by twenty-three or more points to go above the Warrington Wolves to the top of the table and to maintain their one-hundred-percent start to the season.

The Robins and their fans made the journey knowing that if they could enter the cauldron of the Stade Gilbert Brutus and emerge with the precious points then they would be up to fourth place in the table after the opening five rounds of the competition.

The Dragons were made the bookies favourites with home advantage but with KR having just a twelve point start on the handicap coupon there was some certainty that this would be a competitive game with the visitors having a chance of springing a surprise.

The game of the round saw third placed Hull FC travel to the south of France for an early Friday evening kick-off against the Catalans Dragons with both sides eyeing the top of the table but needing to record big points victories to achieve it.

The Dragons needed a thirty-seven point victory to overtake Warrington on points difference while the ask was an unlikely fifty-three point plus win.

A win for either side would lift them into second spot, at least until Hull KR took on the Leigh Leopards in an eight o´clock kick-off.

The home side were slight favourites for the win, but FC had only been given a four-point start on the handicap coupon.

Toulouse Olympique XIII´s Super League light was burning dimly and a loss in tonight’s ´Le Derby´ to the Catalans Dragons would finally extinguish it, regardless of the results for Warrington and Wakefield.

The Dragons themselves needed a win to keep up the pressure on Huddersfield in third spot, but more importantly to re-open the three-point margin over the Leeds Rhinos who are now breathing down their necks for fourth spot and who they face on Monday night in Perpignan.

The bookies favoured the Dragons despite their recent lack of form at the crucial end of the season, but it was indicative of the strength of Toulouse that they only gave the competitions fourth placed side an eight-point handicap on the coupon.

This was likely to be the last competitive French derby for some time and bragging rights were up for grabs as Catalans made the two-hundred-kilometre trip north, determined to bring back the points and end a run which has seen them lose on their last two outings, and only win two out of their last seven.

Super League kicked off on 29 March 1996 with a French team in the comp when short-lived Paris St Germain hosted Sheffield Eagles in the new competition's first game of the summer era.

Now, 26 years and two weeks later, the league saw it's first all-French derby when Toulouse Olympique visited Perpignan's Stade Gilbert Brutus to take on Catalan Dragons in the Easter "rivals round".

The Leeds Rhinos returned to Emerald Headingley still seeking their opening win of the 2022 Super League campaign and things didn´t get any easier as they came up against last season´s Minor Premiers and the side widely tipped for a second consecutive Grand Final appearance, the Catalans Dragons.

There were a couple of changes for home coach Richard Agar who replaced Donaldson with O´Connor and brought Dwyer back after his one game suspension, and after sneaking a win against Wakefield Trinity last week Steve McNamara brought Davies and Jullien along with Seguir on the bench.

The Rhinos knew that a four-point win would lift them into sixth, but the Dragons needed to win by well over forty to alter their league position.

Huddersfield Giants were looking for their first win as they wrapped up the Mose Masoe round at the Totally Wicked Stadium with a tough game against a Catalans side who themselves were seeking a second win after their Golden Point victory last weekend.

Jake Wardle, Sam Wood and Michael Lawrence all returned for the Giants who were still without the services of Aidan Sezer, with Samisoni Langi and Gil Dudson into the side for the Dragons.

Despite an awful run of losses, the Giants were only given a two-point start on the coupon against Steve McNamara’s Jekyll and Hyde side.

 

It was billed as a pre-season friendly, but when the Catalans Dragons face Toulouse Olympique XIII, there is rarely anything friendly about it once the captains have shaken hands in the centre of the field.

Both coaches took the opportunity to name large squads for the game with the hope of sharing the workload and getting a good look at all their charges in a game situation.

Catalans’ Steve McNamara named a thirteen-man bench while Toulouse coach Sylvian Houles had a squad of twenty-three players, including many names familiar to followers of Super League such as Harrison Hansen, Dominic Peyroux and Mitch Garbutt.

Two sides, both with an excellent recent Coral Challenge Cup pedigree, were the first to clash in the quarter finals of the 2019 competition as the holders Catalans Dragons travelled to Hull to take on the Black and Whites side which lifted the trophies in the two previous years.

Hull overcame the Castleford Tigers in the last round, while the Dragons demolished lower league opposition from Doncaster.

But the sides had very different fortunes last weekend at the Magic event in Liverpool with the Dragons recording a good victory over Wakefield Trinity, while FC crashed horrendously at the hands of the Huddersfield Giants.

The two sides are currently sat third and fourth in the league table, the French side with a two point advantage.

The bookies had made the home side slight favourites, despite last weeks result, but expected that the holders wouldn’t relinquish their grip on the trophy without a fight.

The Dragons went into this match knowing that they hadn’t lost an Easter Monday fixture for five years, and welcoming back players from suspension and returning from their long injury list.

Castleford, on the other hand, haven’t won an Easter Monday tie in a number of years, and lost Nathan Massey just before kick-off, handing 18-year-old Lewis Peachey his Super League debut.

Unsurprisingly, it was the home side who showed the early pressure, with two sets pressing the visitors’ try-line in the first five minutes, though with no points to show.

Seventh took on ninth in the first of a double header at Craven Park as Hull KR welcomed the Catalans Dragons to a sunny but blustery East Yorkshire.

The Dragons were still smarting from their nilling at the hands of the Salford Red Devils last Saturday while KR were on a high after their close away win at Wakefield in their round five fixture.

A win for the Rover would see them into the top five but Tim Sheens was without five first choice front rowers.

A win by more than an eighteen point margin would see Steve McNamara’s Dragons above KR into seventh spot, but they too had injury issues naming Lucas Albert at hooker for the first time in his career.

A good crowd had gathered hoping for a big home win.

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The Betfred Super League keeps its South of France foothold in Perpignan after the Catalan Dragons ran out 26-10 winners over Leigh in the Million Pound Game at Leigh Sports Village this afternoon.



But that result stayed in doubt until well into the second half as, for the second year running, two SL teams battled it out to decide which one would be relegated to make way for Hull KR, whose return to the top flight was guaranteed when they ensured a top three place in the middle eights.

It was a sweltering south of France that was the backdrop for the opening game of the qualifiers for the Catalans Dragons and London Broncos.

It is unthinkable that the Dragons would not make it back into Super League but the Broncos also have their eye on the big prize.



The Dragons were stunned by the mid-week news that under confused circumstances Tony Gigot was back under suspension after previously winning an appeal against a two year sentence and the Broncos would have been hoping to catch them cold at the start of the competition.



The Broncos had a great Championship season finishing second to runaway leaders Hull KR and the Dragons would have been concerned about their opening fixture.

What a wonderful and exciting adventure we Rugby League fans have been handed out this week.



Who would of imagined a Super League fixture played in NSW Australia and to top it off in a beautuful coastal town and stadium such as Wollongong just South of Sydney!