Catalan Dragons 20 Wigan Warriors 12: Warriors left stunned as Dragons complete the double

Daryl Millard touched down twice for the Dragons in the win in Montpellier, with Sam Tomkins’s two converted tries all the Warriors had to show for their trip to France.

Maguire said: “Catalan came at us tonight and we weren’t on the money. We had a lot of opportunities but a lack of execution let us down at times.

“I’ve got to give Catalan a lot of credit, they came at us defensively and unified our attack. We’ve come down here and gone into camp as it were and got a lot out of it. We came into tonight looking to put in a good performance but we faced a team that came at us and played extremely well.

“It was a tough game, but some ill-discipline and errors crept into our game. Again, though, I have to give full credit to the opposition.

“We’ll lick our wounds over the next few days and go back to work this week but we need to bounce back. We had plenty of opportunities but they have hit us twice now.”

The defeat ends Wigan’s winning run of eight league games since the Dragons last beat the Warriors at the DW Stadium in April, leaving Maguire to reflect on the loss.

“Yeah, for sure it’s the end of the run, but we now want to go on another run that will help our position later in the year,” he said.

“It’s natural that after the game we’re going to have lots of ups and downs, and we’ll take a lot out of our loss, but there is a long way to go.”

Delighted Catalan chief Trent Robinson said: “That was a bit of a game for the purists with the huge defensive effort from both sides. I think that we could have attacked a little bit better than we did but saying that, both sides defended really well – they’re the strongest defensive side in the comp along with Warrington.”

Robinson reserved special praise for Jason Baitieri, who put in some huge tackles. “Jase is one of our smaller pack members but he plays tough and hard every week and his performances are full of courage.”

Catalan Dragons: Greenshields, Blanch, Baile, Millard, Vaccari, Sa, Dureau, Ferriol, Henderson, Baitieri, Paea, Raguin, Mounis. Replacements: Menzies, Simon, Fakir, Pelissier.

Wigan Warriors: S Tomkins, Charnley, J. Tomkins, Carmont, Richards, Finch, Deacon, Prescott, Leuluai, Mossop, Hansen, Hoffman, O’Loughlin. Replacements: McIlorum, Lima, Farrell, Tuson.

Referee: R Silverwood (Dewsbury).