���˿���

French club Catalans Dragons ran in 10 unanswered tries against Wakefield Trinity to go top of Super League.

Two Tom Davies tries and scores from Matt Whitley and Samisoni Langi put Catalans 24-0 up at the break.

Davies got his hat-trick before Julian Bousquet and Fouad Yaha went over.

Whitley's own treble and a second Langi try completed the win for Catalans, who flew in by private jet just hours before kick-off as they stick to strict travel protocols during the pandemic.

The Perpignan-based club have been given a special exemption to travel to the UK to continue their campaign despite the new quarantine restriction, and have reportedly been which sees them make the round trip to the south of France on matchdays.

For their latest journey, a week after hammering Castleford 40-14, the Dragons were without dual-code international Israel Folau, who remained in Perpignan for the birth of his first child.

His absence, however, was of little consequence for a side boosted by the return of vivacious England full-back Sam Tomkins, who helped create early tries for both Langi and Davies.

Tomkins' cut-out pass for Yaha saw Langi touchdown on the left edge just moments after Whitley opened the scoring, and the full-back again popped up with the decisive pass on the right to send Davies over in the 16th minute.

Davies added a second try before the interval, but just as impressive for the Dragons was their ability to completely stifle Wakefield in attack.

While Trinity were without injured Tom Johnstone, their leading try-scorer this term, the winger himself could have done little to influence the first-half showing in St Helens.

Compounding Wakefield's woes were injuries to Kelepi Tanginoa, Tony Gigot, Adam Tangata and Lee Kershaw in the opening 40 minutes.

Davies got his treble immediately after the break, and points continued to flow in a torrent as Bousquet swivelled over the line, Whitley brought up his own hat-trick and Langi got Dragons' 10th try late on to complete the French club's biggest Super League win away from Stade Gilbert Brutus.

Next up for both Catalans and Wakefield is a rematch on 22 August in the Challenge Cup.

Wakefield head coach Chris Chester:

"We were out-muscled by a more physical pack. There was some niggly stuff that went on and we did nothing about it. We've got to be tougher about ourselves.

"They were a lot more desperate, they were the first to every loose ball on the floor. It was very un-Wakefield-like to get beat on effort and we did tonight.

"It's always difficult when you lose two outside backs but we made it easy for them. The toughness between the two teams was the difference."

Catalans head coach Steve McNamara:

"We're top but we're only seven or eight games in. It's nice to win and that's the third week of travelling. We've done a good job the last couple of weeks.

"We're realistic. We played well from the start but we were aided by the fact that Wakefield picked up a few injuries.

"They were under the pump, they were down to one player on the bench, so we're not getting carried away."

Wakefield Trinity: Gigot; Kay, Lyne, Tupou, Kershaw; Miller, Hampshire; Kopczak, J Wood, Tanginoa, Pitts, Ashurst, Westerman.

Replacements: K Wood, Fifita, Navarrete, Tangata.

Catalans Dragons: S Tomkins; Davies, Langi, Mead, Yaha; Maloney, Drinkwater; Casty, McIlorum, Moa, Whitley, J Tomkins, Garcia.

Replacements: Bousquet, Jullien, Baitieri, Kasiano.