Wigan beat Catalans to go level on points at top

Betfred Super League

Catalans (12) 18

Tries: Yaha, Fages, Romano Goals: Mourgue 3

Wigan (12) 26

Tries: Field, Forber, Nsemba, Keighran Goals: Keighran 5

Wigan Warriors maintained their growing dominance over Catalans Dragons as they scored four tries in Perpignan to move level on points at the top of Super League with leaders Hull KR.

Rovers and Wigan are tied on 38 points from 24 matches - four clear of their nearest rivals Warrington - and only the Hull side's superior points difference will separate them going into next Friday's meeting between the two at the Brick Community Stadium.

After going behind to a converted Jai Field try, the Dragons briefly turned it round with converted efforts from club record try scorer Fouad Yaha and Theo Fages.

But three converted tries in nine minutes either side of the break from Tom Forber, Junior Nsemba and Adam Keighran turned it round for a Wigan side boosted by the return of talisman Bevan French after eight games out.

Keighran added a penalty for an individual 14-point haul and a three-score cushion for his team at 26-12 before Catalans took advantage of Kruise Leeming's late sin-binning to cross again through Arthur Romano.

But, although Arthur Mourgue landed his third conversion and the Dragons countered strongly again, Wigan held firm to earn their fourth straight win in this fixture.

Wigan last lost to Catalans at Magic Weekend in Newcastle in June 2023, having won 34-0 in Perpignan a year ago, edged the Grand Final 10-2 at Old Trafford last October then won 30-8 at home when the two sides last met in early May.

The visitors were also nearer full strength as they brought in winger Abbas Miski, stand-in captain Kaide Ellis, on his 100th appearance, and key Aussie half-back French.

It was Ellis who set things in motion with a great offload before Jake Wardle jinked away to trigger the opener on nine minutes, as Keighran supplied the linking pass inside to set Field clear to gallop over.

But just six minutes later Yaha went on a 60-yard jinking solo run to score in the left corner and, by the 20th minute, Catalans led when Liam Marshall appeared to be tackled early by ex-Wigan wing Davies as he fielded a bomb - and that freed St Helens old boy Fages to run in and score.

A neat piece of opportunism from scrum-half Forber tied it up again when he darted over from a play-the-ball for his first Wigan try to level at the break.

Nsemba then showed typical solo power to go over from close range, to which Keighran then added the extras before crossing the line himself.

A neat move involving Field and Marshall, who coolly passed back inside, freed Keighran to go under the posts.

He kicked both that and a penalty to seemingly settle it before the Dragons’ late flurry – but Wigan had already done enough.

Catalans: Rouge; Davies, Romano, Laguerre, Yaha; Mourgue, Fages; Navarrete, Da Costa, Bousquet, McMeeken, Sironen, Garcia.

Interchanges: Seguier, Satae, Dezaria, Aispuro-Bichet.

Wigan: Field; Miski, Eckersley, Wardle, Marshall; French, Keighran; Havard, Leeming, Thompson, Walters, Nsemba, Ellis.

Interchanges: Byrne, Mago, Dupree, Forber.

Sin-bin: Leeming (72)

Referee: Chris Kendall.