French revolution comes to Wembley
DRAGONS BID TO MAKE HISTORY WITH CUP GLORY
EIGHTY years ago, Nazi sympathisers tried to kill rugby league in France. Last season, the nation’s sole Super League representatives, Catalans Dragons, were 80 minutes away from dropping out of the top flight.
Today the same club stand on the verge of becoming the first side from outside England to win the Challenge Cup and, in the process, writing perhaps the finest story in the sport’s history when they take on Warrington Wolves at Wembley.
‘It’s been difficult for rugby league in France for a long time,’ forward Ben Garcia, 25, told Sportsmail after practising under the arch yesterday. ‘This is big. I think France can now see what we can do in league, not just union.’
That the Dragons, who have had a letter of support from President Emmanuel Macron, have the chance to make history is a minor miracle itself. They only entered the top tier in 2006 and a new chapter was written in the history of rugby league in France. However, this time last year the Dragons were locked in a battle against relegation, prevented only by a do-or-die victory over Leigh which sent their opponents down.
One of Leigh’s players that day, 26- year- old scrum- half Josh Drinkwater, subsequently headed home to Australia, his contract torn up. With only a part-time playing role available Down Under, he ended up working for a landscape gardener friend, digging holes and pushing wheelbarrows.
Four months on, the 26year- old’s Dragons career is blossoming. ‘I have a club car that says Catalans on it, and there are people beeping at you, waving at you, wishing you good luck,’ he said. ‘The fans are nuts. If we take the trophy home the place will go berserk.’
Renaissance is everywhere. Dragons coach, Hull-born Steve McNamara, was last at Wembley in 2013, when his England side were defeated in a World Cup semi-final in a gut wrenching lastminute defeat by New Zealand. McNamara, who describes the Kiwi try as ‘ the moment time stood still’, lost the national team job in 2015. He insisted that he is not back here to prove a point.
‘Everything I did with England I am proud of,’ he said. ‘I have no regrets whatsoever. You move on to the next job. I’m glad I’ve got this job and we have an opportunity to do something special.’
The history is not lost on McNamara, but he has not used it to motivate his side.
‘It’s really interesting information but it’s not something you can use,’ he said. ‘It’s about what do we do to play well, how do we do this.’
A disappointing crowd of just 50,000 is expected in the capital. Perpignan-based Catalans, captained by Remi Casty, will bring around 10,000 fewer supporters than an English team.
But they will still enjoy a home field advantage, with the vast majority of neutrals hoping for the biggest upset since Sheffield Eagles defeated Wigan in 1998.
Does all of this make Warrington the villains of the piece?
Their Australian coach Steve Price (left), who has taken one of the game’s traditional powerhouses from a relegation scare of their own to Super League contenders and Challenge Cup finalists in his first year at the helm, begs to differ. ‘Catalans deserve a rap,’ he said. ‘They are a quality team who deserve to be here. It’s going to be brutal from the outset but hopefully we can put on a good spectacle for our fans.’
Price made headlines when he gave a heavily tattooed fan standing at a bus stop a lift to a recent match, defying complaints from his daughter who felt the punter looked ‘scary’.
‘He’s got his ticket,’ Price added. ‘He’ll be in the crowd and hopefully we can do him proud.’