Super League: Catalans welcome St Helens in Super 8s

As round one of the Super 8s get underway, Catalans Dragons play host to beaten Challenge Cup semi-finalists St Helens, who are odds-on at 8/11 with Coral to beat the side from the south of France.

Honours are even between the two teams this season, with one win apiece, though most recently in May it was the Dragons who came away with a winning result, staging a second-half comeback to triumph 33-26 in Perpignon.

Benjamin Garcia and Zeb Taia both crossed for a brace and are 5/2 and 11/10 respectively in the anytime market, while Morgan Escare, who was also went over, is a 10/1 first scorer chance.

The Saints succumbed to a 24-14 defeat at the hands of Leeds Rhinos last time out in the Challenge Cup, and coach Keiron Cunningham admits a couple of sloppy errors ended up costing his fatigued side.

“I was disappointed with the start. We probably gave Leeds a little bit too much respect,” he said. “I could see the players were gassed but I knew, if we were within a score or two at half-time, we would be in with a shot.

“We came out really well in the second half and at 18-14, the game was on, but we made the misread on Watkins, which was down to poor attention to detail, and it ended up costing us.”

Mark Percival and Andre Savelio were both on the scoresheet, and the duo are 5/4 and 4/1 in the anytime scorer markets, while last time out against the Dragons, it was Adam Swift’s haul of four which kept the Saints within touching distance of the French outfit.

Swift by name and nature, the 22-year-old is odds-on at 8/13 in the anytime market. Despite a slip-up against the Rhinos, Cunningham’s men ended the regular season on a high, hammering Hull KR 52-12 with Swift getting a brace, while Joe Greenwood also finished the match on two and is a respectable 7/4 in the anytime market.