Hull KR demolish Catalans with 12-try win

Betfred Super League

Hull KR (36) 68

Tries: Davies, Batchelor 2, Sue 2, Tanginoa, Broadbent, Lewis 2, Booth, Whitbread, May Goals: Mourgue 10

Catalans Dragons (0) 6

Challenge Cup hero Tom Davies helped Hull KR continue their celebrations by opening the scoring in their 12-try Super League demolition of a Catalans Dragons side that had captain Benjamin Garcia red-carded in the first half.

Davies snatched a late winner to earn the Robins their first cup win for 45 years just six days earlier, but was quick to break the deadlock at a packed Craven Park that witnessed Catalans slump to a club record defeat.

James Batchelor and Sauaso Sue added to the score before Dragons were momentarily down to 11 men, with Garcia sent off just two minutes after Franck Maria was sin-binned.

A second Batchelor score and further tries from Kelepi Tanginoa, Jack Broadbent and Mikey Lewis put Hull KR 36-0 up at the break.

Catalans last scored a point 34 days ago when they faced Hull KR in the Challenge Cup semi-final, and the first of three consecutive shutout defeats after that in May cost Steve McNamara his job after almost eight years at the helm of the Perpignan club.

Their inability to grab an early score at Craven Park also meant they set an unwanted record for longest time between points in Super League history, passing the previous 259-minute wait Wakefield Trinity endured in 2023.

In stark contrast, since the Robins last faced the Dragons they have amassed 19 tries in four games and ended their long wait to lift the cup.

While the key trio of Jared Waerea-Hargreaves, Michael McIlorum and Joe Burgess were all ruled out injured after helping Hull KR to Wembley glory, the East Yorkshire side remained at their irrepressible best against a French side in wretched form.

Garcia being held up over the line in the 11th minute was the highlight of Catalans’ first half in Hull.

Davies, Batchelor and Sue’s tries that followed had the hosts cruising, but Catalans’ hopes of making it a contest after that were dashed by the sin-binning of Maria – for his illegal hit on Sue – before Garcia’s was shown a red card for swinging a punch at Elliot Minchella and Lewis.

An avalanche of tries followed before the interval, leading Catalans’ interim head coach Joel Tomkins to do some damage control at half-time.

Hull KR head coach Willie Peters told BBC Radio Humberside:

“It has been a special week. Obviously it is a quick turnaround, six days, so we didn’t know what to expect tonight.

“The week wasn’t normal. Obviously, celebrations and things like that is not something you would work your week around, but you had to because it is a moment we have been waiting for for a long time.

Catalans Dragons interim head coach Joel Tomkins told Sky Sports:

“It’s unbelievably embarrassing to be honest, for me, for the club and for the group of players especially. We are just not there at the minute.

“We are just going to have to get ourselves out of it, because no-one else is going to help us.

“Towards the back end of each half, I thought we looked like we gave up, if I’m honest. We are low on confidence and low on energy and we look like a few of our boys gave up a little bit at the end, which is a probably the ultimate disrespect to the jersey.

Hull KR: Mourgue; Davies, Hiku, Broadbent, Booth; Lewis, May; Sue, Litten, Hadley, Whitbread, Batchelor, Minchella.

Interchanges: Tanginoa, Brown, Doro, Leyland.

Catalans: Aispuro-Bichet; Makinson, Laguerre, Smith, Cotric; Keary, Fages; Satae, Da Costa, Bousquet, Romano, Garcia, Partington.

Interchanges: Pangai Jnr, Sims, Sironen, Maria.

Red card: Garcia 27 mins.

Sin-bin: Maria 25 min.