Catalans Dragons 40 Wakefield Trinity 8: We haven’t adapted to new rules as well as others admits Trinity chief Chris Chester

Downcast: Wakefield Trinity coach Chris Chester (Photo by George Wood/Getty Images)

Catalans Dragons tore Trinity apart with a second-half blitz leaving coach Chris Chester with a great deal of soul-searching before his next match against champions St Helens.

Chester could only name a 20-man squad following a series of injuries and Covid difficulties, however, his Wakefield side were full value for the biggest part of the first 40 minutes.

Jacob Miller orchestrated a series of attacks with Joe Westerman and Kalepi Tanginoa tormenting the 5,000 home supporters who had expected an early Dragons rout following their previous encounter in England.

But the fans had to wait for Sam Tomkins and James Maloney to work their magic and a dominant second half had the French supporters singing.

A Bill Tupou try and two Tony Gigot goals were all the visitors had to show for some impressive graft before the interval.

A try against the run of play for Matt Whitley, quickly followed by a touchdown on half-time for Israel Folau put Catalans in the driving seat.

Futher tries followed with Sam Kasiano, Sam Tomkins, Julian Bousquet and a David Mead brace wrapping up the win, with James Maloney kicking six out of seven goals.

Wakefield’s coach Chester said: “Since lockdown we seem to have struggled to cope with the new rule changes and there is obviously a gap now growing between the top teams who have handled the situation and ones like ourselves who haven’t.”

He added: “I thought we were really good for 33 minutes, we were in control at the start of the game and we were really challenging their middles.

“They were there for the taking in the first half but we just came up with some dumb plays.

“They then went back to back on us, and they grew some legs, and the rest of the game was a dominant display from Catalans.

“We’re struggling to find a way out of this form that we’re in,” he added.

Catalans Dragons: S. Tomkins, Davies, Folau, Langi, Mead, Maloney, Drinkwater, Moa, McIlorum, Casty, Jullien, Whitley, Garcia. Substitutes: Bousquet, Goudemand, Baitieri, Kasiano.

Wakefield Trinity: A. Walker, Jones-Bishop, Lyne, Tupou, Johnstone, Miller, Gigot, Tanginoa, Crowther, Arona, Ashurst, Pitts, Westerman. Substitutes: Kopczak, Green, Tangata, K. Wood.

Referee: James Child (RFL).