Wigan are given a French lesson

The club who used to regard Wembley as their second home, when they were in their Challenge Cup pomp in the Eighties and Nineties, blew the chance to reach their 29th final and take on old enemy St Helens in the first rugby league showpiece at the new stadium on August 25.

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They were humbled by Catalans Dragons, a French club formed only two seasons ago and half-expected to finish bottom of Super League for the second successive season. The defeat ranks alongside Wigan's loss to another bunch of no-hopers, Sheffield Eagles, in the 1998 Challenge Cup Final.

Blown away in a stunningly onesided first half in which some of Wigan's big names stand accused of complacency, the former cup kings rallied desperately and bravely in the second half, particularly while Catalans magician Stacey Jones was in the sinbin for a professional foul.

But Jones, who paced the touchline in frustration for most of the 10 minutes he was off, returned to set up Catalans' sixth and most decisive try, with his first touch, for back row forward Jason Croker.

Wigan had scored a dozen points while Jones was off the pitch and their nightmare was receding with the gap back to seven points. Jones simply dinked a little grubber kick under their posts for Croker.

So Catalans become the first French side to reach a Challenge Cup Final and Jones was ecstatic.

The irrepressible Kiwi half back said: "This is right up there with anything I've achieved in the game. I came to France to help develop the game and it will be a dream for me to play at Wembley for the first time. It was a big call when I was sinbinned although I did interfere when Wigan were trying for a quick restart. I've never been in that position, having to watch from the dugout for 10 minutes while we were under the pump. It doesn't matter now because we're at Wembley."

Wigan fans outnumbered their French visitors by at least 10 to one but stood in shocked silence at the final hooter having booed their team off at half-time.

Coach Brian Noble, who enjoyed so much success in his time with Bradford where Catalans counterpart Mick Potter was once a backroom colleague, sat grim-faced afterwards. He said: "It has not been a great week for Wigan. I feel very dejected. For the club, players, supporters and myself. This is one of the lowest points of my career. 'We lost it in the first half when we found ourselves 22-0 down after 20 minutes. You don't expect that in a semi-final. But we were like rabbits trapped in the headlights and that is a recipe for disaster.

"I still believed at half-time we could win, but we didn't and can't afford to spend much time kicking stones around the car park in our disappointment. We have to come back to Warrington next week and try to find a performance."

Wigan simply did not know what hit them when Catalans ripped them apart in the opening quarter, with tries from Casey McGuire, John Wilson, Adam Mogg and Vincent DuPort. It took them until the 35th minute to get over the Catalans line, Thomas Leuluai the scorer, but they were still making hard work of breaking down the French attack.

Another converted DuPort try left the Warriors trailing 31-6 after 52 minutes but hooker Mickey Higham began the fightback, which accelerated with Jones missing.

Darrell Goulding and Mark Calderwood scored tries, and with Catalans showing signs of fatigue, Wigan sensed a great escape. But it was not to be.