Dragons fire a stunner for sorry Saints

kind of following to Wembley St Helens would have done, they now have the chance to win their first major trophy.

McNamara’s side will face Warrington on August 25 and the former England coach said: “It’s incredible for the club. Last year we were in the Million Pound Game and now we’re at Wembley.

“At the start of this year, we won two of our first 11 games so it’s been a fantastic turnaround and the players have worked extremely hard.

“We couldn’t let Saints play. If we had come here, sat back and let them play we would have been in all sorts of trouble but that was the most physical we’ve probably been.

“Getting to the final will mean a lot for French rugby league. It needs a boost and hopefully us getting to the final will do that.”

Saints arrived on a 14-match winning run which has carried them 10 points clear at the Super League summit and made them the team to beat in 2018. Yet the Dragons, guided by Aussie playmaker Josh Drinkwater, breathed fire in a near perfect first half.

Lewis Tierney, the son of cross-code great Jason Robinson, dived over in the right corner after Drinkwater’s early penalty.

Ben Garcia scored two tries either side of Tony Gigot’s score as Catalans opened up an unassailable lead. Mark Percival (two) and Louie McCarthy-Scarsbrook scored for St Helens but Sam Moa’s try confirmed a famous win for Catalans, who will be in the final for the first time since a 30-8 loss to Saints in 2007.

St Helens, meanwhile, have not made it to a Challenge Cup final since 2008 and coach Justin Holbrook conceded: “I’m shattered and devastated but full credit to Catalans because they bullied us off the park and we had no answers.

“We made too many errors and they took full advantage of it. They did to us what we have been doing to a lot

of teams.”