Catalan Dragons beat Leeds Rhinos in Super League 2011
The Catalan Dragons beat the Leeds Rhinos 38-18 on July 10 in France during the Engage Super League 2011.
The Super League tournament started in 1996. It holds matches of 14 teams in total, which play for the League in 27 rounds, followed by the play-offs and finally, the Grand Finale. The Engage Super League 2011 has commenced from February 2011.
The clash of Leeds and Dragons was scheduled on 10 July. Leeds appeared hopeful of their win against the Dragons, as Leeds is one of the two teams to have beaten the Dragons this season in the Engage Super League. The team however, did not underestimate
the capabilities of the Dragons.
Brian McDermott, the Leeds’ coach, had a high regard for the Dragons team and its coach, Trent Robinson. He said, “I think they now have an excellent coach and they are getting back to the standards they set for themselves under Mick Potter a few years ago…We
played them earlier this year at Headingley Carnegie and they gave us a very tough test.”
The Leeds season, after a good start, has left them with two defeats, one after the other, and prior to their clash with the Dragons. The Leeds have previously been winners of Super League tournament for three consecutive years 2007-09. On the other hand,
during their Super League years, the Dragons have won only won three matches out of 14 against the Leeds.
The Dragons have also had a good season so far, having won from Bradford Bulls by 34-28 and from Castleford Tigers by 54-20. In the match on July 10, Frederic Vaccari, the Dragons’ winger, played a superb game, gaining their victory by getting two out of
seven tries, while the rest of the points were scored by Clint Greenshields, Steve Menzies, Damien Blanch, Vincent Dupport and Sebastien Raguin, each.
On the other hand the valiant plays from Leeds players Jamie Jones-Buchanan, Ryan Hall and Danny Buderus fell short for the team on July 10.
The Dragons victory is much sweeter as two players could not play and had to be replaced, still making the team victorious. Jean-Philippe Baille and Jamal Fakir had to be taken off the team and the match because of Baille’s illness and Fakir’s injury. The
coach replaced them with Vincent Duport and Thibaut Ancely. Despite these changes, the new replacements helped the Dragons come out in the game against Leeds.
This outcome of the match, condemned by their coach, marks the third successive defeat of the Leeds this Super League season.
The 38-18 defeat left the Leeds at the eighth position in the League Table, while the Dragons’ victory helped them achieve the fifth position. It is predicted that if the Dragons continue this winning streak, especially against St Helens, they will come
out to be above third place on the League table.
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