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Highlights of the Super League clash between Warrington Wolves and Catalans Dragons
Highlights of the Super League clash between Warrington Wolves and Catalans Dragons
Warrington Wolves kept their winning start to the season going with a closely-contested 18-12 victory over Catalans Dragons at the Luke Littler Stadium.
On a night when Warrington honoured one of their own with a trophy parade, placards of Littler’s face, and the renaming of the stadium in his honour, they came away with an important win as the 18-year-old world darts champion celebrated every moment from the stands.
In the first half, an early Arthur Mourgue penalty conversion was met with a converted Toby King try for Warrington which saw the home team in front, but, just before half-time, Matthieu Laguerre powered over for an unconverted effort to see the scores level at 6-6.
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Luke Littler receives a huge welcome as he walks out in front of the fans at Warrington
After the break, a Danny Walker wonder try and Matt Dufty’s close-range effort gave Warrington a 12-point lead, before Laguerre’s second try narrowed the gap to six points, but, despite creating chances in the final moments, Catalans could not find the attacking structure required to take the game to golden point.
Warrington will now turn their attention to Las Vegas where they head to next week to face Wigan Warriors on March 1, live on Sky Sports. The Warriors produced a dominant 46-4 victory over Hull FC, with Jai Field scoring a hat-trick of tries.
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Littler celebrates Danny Walker’s try for Warrington Wolves
Wolves make moments count in tough clash with Dragons
After the celebration of Littler and the players being announced onto the pitch by the legendary John McDonald, Warrington and Catalans immediately entered into a tough battle.
A high shot from Ben Currie in the fifth minute saw the visitors put an early penalty conversion on the board through Mourgue to move 2-0 up, but, from there, defences were on top.
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Toby King pegs back Catalans Dragons with the opening try for Warrington Wolves
Finally, Warrington got their points on the board as a George Williams kick was collected by King in the air on the 29th minute, Josh Thewlis adding the extras to put his side 6-2 in front.
Despite some joy for the Wolves, Laguerre finished off a scruffy pass with some superb skill to power over in the corner but, with Mourgue unable to convert, the sides went in all square after 40 minutes.
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Matthieu Laguerre displays some superb skill to level the game for Catalans Dragons
The energy and determination in the second half was immediately higher, both sides opting to chance their arm in attack, and finally it paid dividends for Warrington in the 50th minute as Williams broke through the line and Walker backed him up to dive over, Thewlis converting to move the Wolves into a 12-6 advantage.
After some feisty moments between the two sides with Dufty and Ben Garcia clashing, Warrington got the last laugh from the encounter as the Warrington full-back powered over from close range to move the home outfit 18-6 in front with the conversion made.
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Matt Dufty extends Warrington Wolves’ lead
A silky break from Nick Cotric and brilliant kick collected by Luke Keary led to Laguerre going over for his second try to bring the scoreline to a close 18-12 with just under 10 minutes remaining, but the Dragons could not make it click in attack and the Wolves made it two wins from two with Catalans left waiting for competition points.
‘See you Vegas!’ | ‘I thought we were the better team!’
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Sam Burgess says ‘we can talk about Vegas now’ after Warrington Wolves defeat Catalans Dragons
Warrington head coach Sam Burgess speaking to Sky Sports:
“Two wins from two is much better than any other scenario. We’re looking forward to the week now, we can talk about Vegas now.
“I’m less grumpy than I was earlier. It’s much nicer going off the back of a couple of wins. We’ll break down tonight’s performance and then we’re on the flight on Sunday.
“It’s going to be a really enjoyable week for everyone. I want them to soak it up, take something out of the experience, and deliver a performance over there.
“At the moment my visa application is with the US border control. I’ve thanked everyone down at the US embassy in London who have put a lot of work into it in the last couple of days.
“I respect the process. It’s just down to them, we’ll just wait and see how it goes over the next 24-48 hours.”
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Steve McNamara says Catalans Dragons won’t get disappointed by two defeats after their second loss of the season against Warrington Wolves
Catalans Dragons head coach Steve McNamara speaking to Sky Sports:
“I thought we were good, I thought we defended well. We caused them trouble with our offloads and dominated field position and possession. It pretty obvious the errors we made attempting to score tries or put points on the board, but other than that, I thought we were the better team on the night and dominated a lot of those areas.
“We’ve lost the first two games of the season, but deep down I know this team is built and prepared for a long season. The first two results haven’t gone our way, that’s disappointing, but I know the team is set for a good, long season.”
Wigan show attacking flair in rout of Hull FC
Field finished with a hat-trick as Wigan responded to last week’s historic 1-0 shut-out by piling on the points in a 46-4 rout of Hull FC at the MKM Stadium.
The Australian was in blistering form as Matt Peet’s reigning champions rendered their golden-point loss to Leigh a distant memory, crossing eight times in total with their score supplemented by 14 points from the boot of Adam Keighran.
Wigan’s win was all the more impressive given another encouraging display from the hosts, for whom it seemed somewhat harsh that they only had Lewis Martin’s try early in the second half to show for their efforts.
Wigan’s 22-0 interval lead did not tell the whole story of a gutsy first period in which the hosts showed plenty of resolve but were let down by too many handling errors at crucial moments.
Any slim hopes of a spectacular comeback were snuffed out in the 52nd minute when the Black and Whites opted to go short with the goal-line drop-out, and Tom Forber reacted quickest to barge straight back over for his side’s fifth.
As Hull’s resistance fell away, Field’s neat lay-off to Marshall created Wigan’s sixth try for Jake Wardle, then the Australian eased over for his hat-trick before Bevan French sealed the deal with his side’s eighth.
What’s next?
Round two of Super League continues on Saturday when Salford Red Devils take on Leeds Rhinos at 3pm, then Castleford Tigers host St Helens at 8pm, with both matches live on Sky Sports+.
Warrington are then next in action in Las Vegas when they take on Wigan Warriors at Allegiant Stadium, live on Sky Sports on March 1 from 8.30pm. Meanwhile, the Dragons play on Friday February 28 when they take a trip to play Leigh Leopards, live on Sky Sports Action from 7.30pm.
The Artur Beterbiev v Dmitry Bivol rematch will be live on Saturday February 22 on Sky Sports Box Office. Book now!
