Catalans Dragons 14-14 Widnes: Vikings salvage a draw

Match Stats

Catalans tries:  Wiliame (6), Myler (12)
Penalties/Conversions: Walsh (6,12,30) 

Widnes tries:  Ah Van (38), Olbison (47), Heremaia (72)
Penalties/Conversions: Hanbury (38) 

Match Report

Widnes Vikings came back from 14-0 down to secure a hard-fought 14-14 draw against Catalans Dragons in terrible conditions in Perpignan.

Catalans were without forwards Sam Moa, Julian Bousquet and Jason Baitieri, while Widnes were missing seven first-team players, including Alex Gerrard, Joe Mellor and Tom Gilmore.

The home side took the lead in the seventh minute when Richie Myler attacked down the left and fed Ben Garcia, who displayed soft hands to send Brayden Wiliame away to score. Luke Walsh continued his good early season form with the boot as he added the extras.

Catalans extended their lead in the 12th minute, Wiliame's tackle on Rhys Hanbury forced a knock-on which was kicked forward by Myler. He won the race to the ball and eventually touched down.

Walsh added the conversion to give the hosts a 12-0 lead and further extended their advantage with a penalty.

Widnes came back into the game four minutes before the break, two penalties giving them field position and Aaron Heremaia picked up five metres from the Catalans line before sending Patrick Ah Van charging over to score. Hanbury added the extra two points.

The visitors struck again eight minutes after the break. Chris Bridge sent a grubber kick to the in-goal area, the ball was fumbled by Thomas Bosc and pounced on by Tom Olbison, although Hanbury missed the conversion.

Both sides were guilty of handling errors at key moments and the score remained the same heading into the final 10 minutes.

Widnes attacked again and Bridge was held up just short, but Heremaia dummied right then put in a neat grubber to the in-goal area where the loose ball was touched down by Hanbury. He missed the conversion attempt.

Catalans applied pressure in the latter stages and despite having field position to attack the Widnes line, the conditions were such that when Walsh attempted a drop-goal the ball did not bounce once it hit the turf and the full-time hooter sounded.

Match Reaction

Widnes coach Denis Betts on his side's point: "It's remarkable really, we've come over to the south of France for a game of rugby and we're heading home to get away from the rain.

"We came here with good intent and we really thought we could do something here today and looking at building on our performance last week (a narrow loss to Wigan) which I felt we did, but only in the sense of our effort.

"We had 35 per cent of the ball in the first half at a 50 per cent completion rate and to be only 14-6 down, I thought we were very fortunate."

On taking points from Perpignan: "We've never taken any points away from here in the seven years that we've been coming, so our target was to take some points away from here today, and we've done that.

"It's hard to feel aggrieved at the players when they walk into the changing rooms at the end of the game and you can't tell who is who because they are that covered in mud."

On both sides' respective kicking games: "I thought Myler and Walsh dominated the kicking game today. I thought our kicking game was pretty average so it becomes really tough. It's hard to get any control of the game when they're kicking the ball well and we're not.

"We needed to pick up some points tonight, we played well last week, battled hard this week and we come up against a team next week who are killing teams for fun, so we need to be at our best next week."

Catalans coach Laurent Frayssinous on his side's second half: "In the second half, both offensively and defensively, we weren't good enough. We didn't play like we did in the first thirty-five minutes and that is disappointing.

"Credit to Widnes, they put themselves in a position where they were able to win the game and that is a credit to them, but we should never have been in a position to not win that game.

"That is what we shared in the dressing room after the game, we have to be consistent throughout the whole game and not just for thirty-five minutes."

On the decision not to award his side a penalty in the final minute despite a Widnes player appearing to collect the ball from an offside position following an error by Rhys Hanbury: "It is offside. It is a close decision, but when he touches the ball, he is offside, but that is unfortunate for us. I don't understand why they don't ask the video referee, but I will discuss that with Steve Ganson (head of referees) this week."