Catalans 18-10 St Helens: Dragons end Saints' unbeaten Super League start
Last Updated: 06/04/19 8:11pm
Sam Tomkins scored 10 points as Catalans Dragons bounced back from their 42-0 defeat to Wigan last week by overcoming previously unbeaten St Helens 18-10 in Perpignan.
St Helens had their perfect record in 2019 ended and Tomkins had a hand in almost all the Dragons' points as he scored a try, created another and kicked three goals.
Catalans were called a disgrace by coach Steve McNamara following defeat against Wigan, but they recovered to secure a vital win in the Betfred Super League and move into the play-off positions.
St Helens made changes to their half-backs as Jonny Lomax's late withdrawal with a stomach bug saw Danny Richardson come into the side to make his first appearance of the season alongside 18-year-old Jack Welsby, who replaced Theo Fages.
Catalans made two changes to their starting 13 from the heavy defeat to Wigan last weekend, Julian Bousquet and Benjamin Jullien coming into the pack with Kenny Edwards injured and Greg Bird dropped to the bench.
Saints opened the scoring in the third minute, Dominique Peyroux chasing and touching down Richardson's neat kick over the Catalans defence and Lachlan Coote adding the conversion on his birthday.
The Dragons hit back in the eighth minute as a subtle change saw Tomkins operating in the halves rather than at full-back - he put in a neat grubber and Fouad Yaha won the race to touch down. Tomkins added the conversion from close to the touchline to level the game at 6-6.
Tommy Makinson took advantage of a slip by Yaha to score in the right corner following good work by James Roby, Richardson and Coote.
Catalans' second try came when Tony Gigot's kick to the left corner was knocked back by Yaha and collected on the run by Tomkins, who touched down in the corner but then missed the conversion from the touchline.
Tomkins hit the upright with a penalty attempt in the last minute of the half as both sides headed in level at 10-10.
He did add a penalty three minutes into the second half after Coote collected a ball from an offside position following Regan Grace's knock-on.
As the half moved on, the conditions turned the game into a war of attrition, St Helens at one point forcing five repeat sets on the Catalans line and the Dragons defence proving too strong for the Saints' attack.
Gigot sealed the win six minutes from time, touching down after Lucas Albert put in a neat grubber to the St Helens in-goal area. Tomkins added the goal to take the score to 18-10.
