Wigan put Catalans to sword
Wigan
ADRIAN LAM’S parachute regiment plundered the points in Perpignan with a victory over Catalans Dragons.
Wigan Warriors were the first team to fly to France following the resumption of the Super League season and Lam couldn’t have been happier as his team won in front of 5,000 fans.
“It was like a parachute raid,” said the Wigan coach.
“We knew we had to go set for set with them, but after 25 minutes they flattened out a bit. I was proud of the guys. There were a lot of best performances from our players today.
“It’s always difficult coming here but we coped well.”
Catalans couldn’t handle the the ferocity of Wigan’s young forwards and the energy-sapping 32-degrees humidity.
Dragons coach Steve Mcnamara admitted the lay-off had hit his squad hard.
“It’s clear that we weren’t on the pace tonight and our preparation for this game has
obviously been affected by the quarantine. It was particularly disappointing for us in front of a home crowd for the first time in six months.”
Wigan struck first with an eighth-minute try for Oliver Gildart, then landed the second – with Bevan French scoring in the 26th minute.
Joe Burgess struck the killer blow just before half-time, picking up a loose carry and scoring. Zak Hardaker’s conversion and a 39th-minute penalty made it 18-0 to the Warriors at the break.
In the second half Burgess grabbed a second.
Hooker Sam Powell put Wigan further ahead and Hardaker’s conversion took the Warriors to 28 unanswered points.
Julian Bousquet and Fouad Yaha did hit back for Catalans, but it was too little, too late.