Wigan Warriors 46-12 Catalans Dragons: Bevan French hat-trick sees Warriors win
Last Updated: 07/09/19 4:24pm
Bevan French grabbed his first Betfred Super League hat-trick as Wigan moved a step closer to securing second place with a convincing 46-12 win over Catalans Dragons.
The Warriors got off to a shaky start and were under the cosh for a while, but two tries from winger French soon changed all that as Wigan led 14-0 at the break.
French completed his hat-trick five minutes after half-time, while further tries from Zak Hardaker and Thomas Leuluai put the Warriors in full control before teenage half-back Harry Smith came off the bench to mark his first team debut with a try.
Dan Sarginson and Oliver Gildart grabbed tries late on, while Catalans' points all came from former Warriors, with Michael McIlorum and Lewis Tierney both scoring tries while Sam Tomkins added the conversions.
Catalans dominated the opening 20 minutes as they camped inside Wigan's half, but strong defence from the likes of Tony Clubb, George Williams and Liam Farrell ensured the Dragons were unable to cross over.
Wigan found themselves down to 12 men on 18 minutes when Farrell was found guilty of a dangerous late hit on Greg Bird.
Wigan bombed a great opportunity to open the scoring in the 22nd minute when the ball came free and Williams hacked on before Oliver Gildart did the same, but unfortunately for the Warriors the ball did not bounce the right way and the Dragons recovered possession.
The Warriors made Catalans pay for not taking their chances as French collected a neat ball from Williams to go over. He was hit late with the knees from Mickael Simon as he grounded the ball which led to a penalty try.
Hardaker converted the try and the penalty for an 8-0 lead.
French soon added a second try as he showed plenty of pace and composure to beat the covering defence following an error from Arthur Romano - Hardaker's conversion made it 14-0 and the Dragons now looked a beaten side.
French needed just five minutes of the second half to complete his hat-trick as he stepped past Romano and Mickael Goudemand to touch down. Hardaker converted as Wigan led 20-0.
The Dragons refused to lie down and after receiving the ball back from the restart they soon found themselves on the scoreboard as former Wigan hooker McIlorum went over from close range.
It was Catalans' turn to mess up the kick-off and Wigan took full advantage. Bevan went from try-scorer to provider as he managed to get the ball away to Hardaker, who stepped over to score. The full-back was unable to convert but Wigan were out of sight at 24-6.
Leuluai extended Wigan's lead even further as he danced his way past a tired Catalans defence, before Smith managed to score in his first real involvement.
Gildart and Joe Burgess combined down the left before the latter sent a kick back infield for the teenager to touch down, and he then converted his own score.
Wigan hit the 40 mark in the last 10 minutes when French again turned provider as he hacked on Sarginson's kick through for his centre to pick up and score.
The Dragons managed to grab their second try through Tierney, before Gildart had the final say with a try on the hooter to claim a 46-12 success.
