Match report: London Broncos vs Catalans Dragons

London Broncos (0) 0, Catalans Dragons (16) 34

London Broncos’ first home Super League game at the Cherry Red Records Stadium attracted 5,102 spectators, the largest home crowd in the capital since April 2010, but most fans went home disappointed with the result if not the experience of Super League. The Catalans Dragons were more than good value for their 34–0 victory, but the Broncos deserve loads of credit for much of their defensive work as can be shown by the number of times Catalans players went over the line but couldn’t ground the ball.

Dragons have been one of the strongest teams in Super League for more than a decade and they showed a determination and clinical efficiency that left the Broncos struggling to keep them at bay whenever they had the ball. In defence, the visitors’ broad white line rarely looked like being breached in the first half and never after the break.

London could not have made a worse start. Barely a minute had elapsed when a high kick from ex Bronco Jordan Abdull was touched by a leaping defender on the left wing, so Catalans had an immediate repeat set. When the ball was fed across to the right side, Theo Fages popped up at first receiver, darted through a gap and touched down before a tackler could get to him. 

Catalans thought they had doubled their advantage after nine minutes when Tom Johnston caught another well-placed Abdull bomb, but his attempted pass to Arthur Romano bounced forward and the video referee disallowed the centre’s score.

It delayed the inevitable for only a couple of minutes as Tariq Sims went over in almost same place as Romano had touched down in vain. Arthur Mourgue, whose first conversion failed, turned four into six and with 14 minutes gone Catalans led 10–0.

London then enjoy a good 10 minutes, twice getting close to the Catalans line. A kick from Jimmy Meadows was well gathered in goal, but the ball was carried back into the field of play. 

The next kick, from a broken last-tackle play was gathered by Mourgue on his line but the first tackler had been offside so the Dragons were given the chance to clear to the touchline and keep possession 30 metres downfield. The Broncos didn’t help themselves by conceding a set restart, and Fages again made them pay a heavy price, dancing between a pair of defenders to score his second try of the evening, improved by Mourgue.

Abdull became the second Dragon to have a score ruled out by the video referee. It came on the second tackle of another short field attack, so although ruled held up in goal, Catalans had four more tackles to get over the line. Fine goal-line defence from the Broncos ensured there would be no fourth try of the half. 

In the last few minutes of the first period, the Men in Black enjoyed another spell of pressure on the Catalans line, but the Dragons were able to repel all raiders without too many alarms. 

Seven minutes into the second half, Sims grabbed his second try of the evening, running onto a flat pass with a fine diagonal run and he dived over the line untouched. Mourgue made no mistake with his kick to add another two.

On the whole, London’s goal-line defence was pretty good as Ben Garcia was denied by the video referee and Jordan Dezaria was also held up. However, under unrelenting pressure, the Broncos conceded two repeat sets and it took only a couple of tackles for Jayden Nikarima to go over, and this time the video referee was happy the ball had been grounded.

Many times over the years, a team trailing by five tries with more than 20 minutes remaining subside to a 50-point defeat, but London tackled like demons defending their line. With about 10 minutes remaining, the powerful Bousquet got the try he deserved, crashing over from five metres out. The conversion for Mourgue was almost automatic.

In the last minute, Lee Kershaw made a good break from his line, but the estimable Alrix Da Costa stopped any hopes London had of a late conversion with a fine tackle.

London Broncos: 20 Oli Leyland, 2, Lee Kershaw, 21 Robbie Storey, 4 Hakim Miloudi, 5 Iliess Macani, 6 Jack Campagnolo, 7 James Meadows, 8 Rob Butler, 9 Sam Davis, 19, Rhys Kennedy, 11 Will Lovell, 17 Sadiq Adebiyi, 13 Dean Parata. Replacements 3 Jarred Bassett, 15 Marcus Stock, 16 Jordan Williams, 29 Jacob Jones. 18th man: 24 Matt Davies. 

Tries: 

Goals: 

Sin-bin: None

Catalans Dragons: 1 Arthur Mourgue, 24 Tom Johnstone, 3 Arthur Romano, 21 Matt Ikuvalu, 5 Fouad Yaha, 27 Jordan Abdull, 7 Theo Fages, 16 Romain Navarette, 14 Alrix Da Costa, 10 Julian Bousquet, 11 Tariq Sims, 15 Bayley Sironen, 13 Benjamin Garcia. Replacements: 6 Jayden Nikorima, 8 Mike McMeeken, 20 Chris Satae, 23 Jordan Dezaria. 18th man: 4 Matthieu Laguerre.

Tries: Fages (2, 24) Sims (13, 47), Nikarima (57), Bousquet (70)

Goals: Mourgue 5/6

Sin-bin: None

Referee: Tom Grant

HT: 0–16

Penalty awarded count: 6–7

Attendance: 5,102