Bosc Puts the Boot Into Cas

Catalans Dragons made an impressive start to life after Stacey Jones to ruin Castleford's return to the Super League at the Jungle on Saturday night. The Dragons fought back from a 12-2 half-time deficit to claim their first league win in England for 10 months, with crucial contributions from Casey McGuire and Thomas Bosc, the half-back pairing who have been given the task of filling the void left by Jones's retirement and return to New Zealand last season.

McGuire, a former Brisbane Broncos stand-off who had not played since he injured his chest before the Catalans' appearance in last August's Challenge Cup final, slotted comfortably into Jones' playmaking role while Bosc scored 13 of the French club's 21 points with a try, a drop goal and four goals.

"I was really pleased with our half-backs," said Mick Potter, the Dragons coach. "Casey is a quality player, and Thomas is a talented kid who could be a big plus for French rugby league."

In contrast Brent Sherwin, Castleford's scrum-half signing from Canterbury Bulldogs, marred a promising debut with costly errors, one of which conceded the position for Bosc's late match-winner.

Wigan staged a more spectacular comeback to begin their campaign with a win at Harlequins, overturning a 28-16 deficit with 31 unanswered points in the last 25 minutes to dent the London club's delight at an attendance of 8,014, their highest at the Stoop for two years.

Darrell Goulding and Michael McIlorum, two of the eight local youngsters in Wigan's 17-man squad, each scored two tries and Pat Richards kicked nine goals to ensure a winning start for the new Warriors regime headed by the former Quins chairman Ian Lenagan.

"I've never had an easy game down here so I'm delighted to be going home with a win," said the Wigan coach Brian Noble.

The Rugby Football League will today investigate reports of crowd trouble at and after Friday night's Super League game between Warrington and Hull. The RFL said it was aware of some incidents involving supporters from Hull after they left the ground. The match commissioner's report is expected to refer to a missile being thrown at the referee Ashley Klein.

"We'll wait for the paperwork on Monday before we decide what to do," said a spokesman.