OUTSTANDING
Folau won’t take a knee but takes game to Castleford
Castleford Catalans ...................
ISRAEL FOLAU had the perfect answer to his critics with a sensational match-winning display for Catalans.
The controversial Australian was widely criticised last week for not taking a knee before their heavy defeat by St Helens.
Folau again stood during the symbolic pre- match Black Lives Matters move, along with team-mates Sam Moa and Ben Jullien.
But Folau made sure he also grabbed the spotlight for rugby reasons with a terrific performance in a muchimproved Dragons side.
And delighted coach Steve Mcnamara is convinced there’s lots more still to come, saying: “We’ve got to remember he has not played rugby league for such a long time.
“He is working really hard and great credit to him – he was close to not getting on the plane, with his wife being pregnant and being close [to giving birth].”
The French side looked in danger of suffering another stuffing when Castleford raced into a 14-0 lead with two tries from Michael Shenton and three goals from Danny Richardson.
But centre Folau stopped Tigers in their tracks when he set up Tom Davies for a try on the winger’s debut.
Folau, whose controversial beliefs about gays got him banned in Australia, also grabbed a corker of a touchdown.
Picking up the ball in his own half, Folau’s b l i st ering pace took him clear before fending off fullback Greg Eden with alarming ease.
Two minutes earlier Alrix Da Costa had darted in from dummy half, making it a disastrous spell for Cas centre Peter Mata’utia.
He had been sin-binned for a dangerous tackle on Samisoni Langi – 10 minutes that saw Catalans claim a twopoint lead they took i nto half time.
Cas, playi ng their first game back since lockdown, looked she l lshocked and they failed to shake themselves back into life after the break.
Ben Garcia caught them cold within minutes of the restart with a try courtesy of a blunder by Derrell Olpherts.
Winger James Clare then wasted a glorious chance for Tigers and the let-off only added to Catalans’ growing belief.
Folau continued to lead from the front, setting up two further tries for Joel Tomkins and Davies, with Jason Baitieri rounding off the try tally.
Folau, who recently signed a new Catalans deal for next season, said: “It was easy to put my hand up and stay.
“Catalans have been exceptional since my wife and I got to France, it’s been a no-brainer.”
Disappointed Cas coach Daryl Powell said: “It’s frustrating. We started really well but a couple of things rattled us and going down to 12 men didn’t help. We never really got the game back.” CASTLEFORD: Tries: Shenton (2). Pen: Richardson. Cons: Richardson (2).
CATALANS: Tries: Davies (2), Da Costa, Folau, Garcia, Tomkins, Baitieri. Pen: Maloney. Cons: Maloney (5).