Image source, PA Media

David Mead scored a hat-trick of tries as Catalans Dragons beat Wakefield Trinity to set up a Challenge Cup quarter-final against Salford.

Josh Drinkwater created Catalans' three first-half touchdowns, two of them for Mead and the other for Fouad Yaha, while Jay Pitts replied for Wakefield.

Max Jowitt's score took Trinity back within eight points, only for the French club to pull clear once more.

Ben Garcia, Mead and Matt Whitley all crossed in the last 25 minutes.

Tinirau Arona and Jacob Miller grabbed late consolations for Trinity, but the game was already long gone.

Read the full match report here.

Image source, Getty Images

Wakefield have four players returning to the squad with Alex Walker, James Batchelor, Max Jowitt and Connor Bailey available for selection again, while back Innes Senior could make his debut after joining from Huddersfield Giants.

For Catalans Dragons, suspended duo Sam Tomkins and Sam Moa are out, but Israel Folau is available again after missing last weekend's game to attend the birth of his first child.

Wakefield (from): Walker, Tupou, Miller, Fifita, Wood, Arona, Ashurst, Kirmond, Westerman, Pitts, Kopczak, Batchelor, Tangata, Crowther, Jowitt, Croft, Hampshire, Bailey, Tanginoa, Navarette, Senior.

Catalans (from): Mead, Folau, Yaha, Maloney, Drinkwater, Casty, McIlorum, Whitley, J Tomkins, Garcia, Davies, Jullien, Da Costa, Goudemand, Seguier, Romano, Maria, Baitieri, Mourgue, Belmas, Kasiano.

The Challenge Cup is a knockout rugby league cup competition held annually since 1896, with the exception of 1915–1919 and 1939–1940. It involves amateur, semi-professional and professional clubs.

The teams from the top tier of rugby league, known as the Super League, enter the Cup in the fifth and sixth rounds, with the final of the prestigious competition held at Wembley Stadium.

The current holders of the Challenge Cup are Warrington Wolves who stunned St Helens to win the Challenge Cup for the ninth time.

Wigan Warriors are the most successful club in the history of the competition, winning the cup a record 19 times.

Saturday’s fixture was scheduled to be part of a sixth-round double-header, but Hull FC's tie against Castleford was postponed after several Hull players and staff tested positive for Covid-19 last week.

That came after round six of the competition was redrawn following the withdrawals of six clubs at the end of July.

Toronto Wolfpack pulled out of the remainder of the Super League season and the Challenge Cup, and the five teams from outside Super League which qualified for the last 16 decided not to take any further part in the Challenge Cup, with the Championship and League One seasons already having been cancelled in the wake of the pandemic.

Ten clubs remained as a result with four contesting two sixth-round ties and six earning byes to the quarter-finals.

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Rugby league is a fast and dynamic game, which involves great strength, stamina and skill, and is played through the summer, so no muddy pitches, or cold, wet training nights!

Playing rugby league has many benefits, including keeping fit, meeting new people and maybe even progressing to a higher level.

Although rugby league shares similarities with rugby union, it is important to see them as different games, and as such, each has its own unique set of skills. Look at the rules to get a feel for the game., external