Hull KR suffer as Catalans Dragons prove comeback kings once again

Super League leaders Catalans Dragons have confirmed that captain Benjamin Garcia broke his forearm in Saturday’s 32-30 win over Hull KR

The France international loose forward has started all but one of his side’s 16 league and cup matches this season but will now be sidelined for at least six weeks as he prepares to undergo surgery.

A Catalans spokesman said: “He’ll see a specialist tomorrow and will undergo surgery to repair the injury. He will be unavailable for a minimum of six weeks.”

Rovers crum-half Jordan Abdull bombarded the table-topping French side with a series of high bombs to help put Rovers 14 points in front at half-time but it was not enough to resist a late onslaught from the table-topping Dragons which took them to a club-record 10 wins in a row.

Rovers were first to score through Abdull but the Dragons hit back when second-row Matt Whitley gleefully collected to stroll unhindered between the posts, Arthur Mourgue converting to level it at 6-6.

Robins struck back when Shaun Kenny-Dowall mopped up a fumbled high kick by Tom Davies to cross the line but Sam Tomkins responded for Les Dracs with a side-stepping dash to the left of the posts for a try, Mourgue converting to level the scores once more.

Abdull’s bombing mission continued with a steepler bamboozled Tomkins for Greg Minikin to collect and swoop between the sticks, then Adam Quinlan raced 50-metres to make it 12-26 at half-time.

Whitley and Abdull then picked up their second tries then the Dragons’ comeback began when Kasiano found Mickael Goudemand to put the French international second-row over the line then Fouad Yaha crossed before Arthur Mourgue pinched a narrow win for the Dragons.

Hull KR coach Tony Smith said: “I was pleased with the effort but not so much with the overall performance. I thought we controlled the game really well in the first half.

“But we had really poor control and discipline in the second half which was really disappointing in terms of where we want to be at this stage of the season.

“We had a great opportunity there to turn our opponents over but all credit to Catalans for fighting back so strongly.

“It’s difficult to lose a game like that, particularly when you’ve played so well in the first half with some great individual performances.

“But collectively in the second half we weren’t great.

“I’m not making any excuses saying we were rusty or anything and we’ve learnt some really pertinent lessons in that second 40 and we will take that into the next couple of weeks for sure.

“So we’re not going to sulk about it or get carried away with either aspect of our game, we’ll just soak it up, learn from it and put it into Thursday.”

McNamara was far from impressed with Catalans Dragons’ performance.

“Of course I’m pleased that we won but I’m really unhappy with the performance.

“In the last three games, where we’ve had to come back, we have had to be very disciplined but it’s quite clear that we are not at the top of our game.

“We seem to have created a bit of a habit that we need to get out of very quickly.

Catalans Dragons: S. Tomkins, Davies, Whare, Langi, Yaha, Mourgue, Drinkwater, Garcia, McMeeken, Whitley, Dudson, Da Costa, Bousquet. Subs: Jullien, Seguier, Goudemand, Kasiano.

Hull Kingston Rovers: Quinlan, Crooks, Minikin, Kenny-Dowall, Hall, Takairangi, Abdull, Hadley, Johnson, Linnett, Maher, Litten, Lawler. Subs: Vete, Parcell, Sims, King.

Referee: James Child (RFL).