Catalans end losing run against poor Castleford

Betfred Super League

Catalans (10) 38

Tries: Smith 3, Yaha, Keary, Aispuro-Bichet, Da Costa Goals: Aispuro-Bichet 4, Seguier

Castleford (4) 4

Tries: Lindsey

Reimis Smith grabbed a hat-trick as Catalan Dragons ended a losing run of six Super League games with a comfortable 38-4 victory against a toothless Castleford Tigers at Stade Gilbert Brutus.

Joel Tomkins side had posted just one win in their previous 13 games in all competitions, a run stretching back to a victory against Wakefield Trinity in April.

But against an error-strewn display from Cas, the French side shaded a tight first half before stretching clear with five unanswered tries in the second period with Smith adding his third try seconds before the hooter.

For Castleford, who appointed Ryan Carr as their new head coach this week, it was a fourth successive defeat and provided further evidence that there is a big rebuild ahead for the Tigers.

Reimis Smith scored three tries as Catalan Dragons beat Castleford Tigers

Cas took the lead through 18-year-old debutant Alfie Lindsey assisted by quick hands from Will Tate to go over in the right corner on 13 minutes.

And they trailed by just one score at 10-4 at the break after the first two of Smith's touchdowns.

But in the second period Catalans were gifted an opening try when Daejarn Asi missed touch after a penalty was awarded for a high tackle and Fouad Yaha ran in from the following set.

From there to the hooter it was all handling errors, poor decision making and missed tackles by Castleford as Luke Keary, Guillermo Aispuro-Bichet, Alrix Da Costa all crossed and, with the hooter about to sound, Smith added a runaway third.

It was an eight consecutive defeat in the south of France for Castleford with a cure for their travel sickness another item on Carr's to-do list when he takes charge at the start of the 2026 season.

'Excitement building' at Catalans - reaction

Catalan Dragons head coach Joel Tomkins said:

"We've got Wigan here next weekend so if we don't improve on tonight the scoreline will be reversed, no doubt about it, but we've got nothing to lose and we'll go into that game throwing everything at them and trying to get a result.

"We've had a busy 12 weeks with recruitment and everything behind the scenes, and we are trying to get things in place for 2026. There's still a job to do in 2025, but there is some excitement building within our four walls at the club about next season.

"We're not going to get carried away, but we are making some signings that we think will be good for the culture of the club moving forward. One thing I guarantee is that we'll be a different outfit next year and we will be competing for things."

Castleford Tigers interim head coach Chris Chester said:

"For 40 minutes I thought we were pretty good, but the try just before half-time sucked quite a bit of energy out of us. There were a couple of massive turning points in the game, but we've just got to be a bit more resilient.

"There's a lot to work on in terms of our edge-defence, but we wanted a response after last week [64-6 home defeat by Leeds] and I thought we got that.

"Collectively, there is plenty there for Ryan [Carr, new head coach from next season] to work with. I spoke to him tonight on the phone and he'd been watching the game.

"What you want is a collective effort and I thought we got that tonight."

Catalans: Aispuro-Bichet, Yaha, Laguerre, Smith, Cotric, Keary, Fages, Satae, Da Costa, Maria, Sironen, Garcia, Partington

Interchanges: Navarette, Seguier, Dezaria, Balmforth

Castleford: Windley, Lindsey, Tate, Senior, Wallis, Asi, Atkin, Singleton, Horne, Amone, Simbiken, Mellor, Lawler

Interchanges: Griffin, Robb, Mustapha, Salabio

Referee: Liam Rush.