Hull KR 24 Catalans Dragons 6: Morgan makes case for the defence as Rovers respond

June has rarely been kind to Rovers, but they were rarely troubled by their French visitors as a strong defensive performance kept the Dragons at bay.

"I have to take my hat off to the big men," Morgan said.

"On days like this they have to change direction, it's a bit heavy underfoot and the Catalans had threats from (Brent) Sherwin and (Thomas) Bosc.

"I thought (Liam) Watts and (Mick) Vella, (Joel) Clinton and (Rhys) Lovegrove and (Jason) Netherton did a good job for us. They shored up the middle and even when we lost some tackles we worked hard to win the next one.

"I thought also we had a real captain's knock from Mick Vella who spent a lot of time on the field for us. Scott Murrell is another one to mention who gave us some energy."

Rovers started with almost the same side hammered 68-12 by St Helens in their last outing, but looked much improved.

"I spoke to the senior players and told them I wanted them to come out and do a job and they responded in the best way possible," added Morgan.

"I thought we coped with the conditions very well although at times we made some unforced errors and put ourselves under some pressure but I thought we responded very well.

"There were several times where we had to defend three or four sets of six at different times and I thought we handled that well.

"Everything we got we had to earn. We had to earn every point and every bit of field position as there was nothing gifted to us.

"I am really proud of the boys especially as there was also some pressure on them on the back of the match at St Helens."

Kiwi centre Jake Webster made a return to action, but then had it cut short by a hip injury.

Morgan continued: "I was pleased with the return of Jake Webster but unfortunately he had to come off with a hip injury which is not good news for him. But I thought he shored up the right side of our defence and made some good decisions.

"I have said all along that when Jake plays we are a much more comfortable team. But we had to have a rather makeshift back line in the second half."

For Rovers, Liam Colbon was scheduled to return after a broken jaw but the luckless winger suffered a medial ligament injury in training allowing Ben Cockayne to continue his run on the left wing.

It was Rovers who got off to a dream start in the second minute when Joel Clinton charged down a Catalans kick, centre Kris Welham made the break and found Ben Galea who ran 20 metres to touch down. Michael Dobson was on hand to convert.

The Dragons forced Rovers into some desperate defence and, in the seventh minute, David Ferriol was held up over the home line before Mick Vella relieved the pressure with a strong run.

The home side weathered the storm and increased their lead in the 19th minute when Scott Murrell's short ball found Welham and the centre burst through from short range to score with Dobson again adding the extra two points.

The Dragons frittered away several chances through spilling the ball and, as the break approached, a Galea kick for Rovers was hacked on by Dobson and Shaun Briscoe narrowly failed to reach the ball to touch down.

Despite being under pressure for a lot of the half and seeing less of the ball than the French side, Rovers still turned round with a 12-0 lead.

After absorbing more Dragons pressure, it was Rovers who increased their lead with 51 minutes gone when Murrell took a pass from Liam Watts to score with Dobson landing his third conversion.

The Dragons cut the deficit on 56 minutes when Sebastien Raguin went over in the left corner and Thomas Bosc landed the conversion from wide out.

Setaimata Sa and Clinton clashed in the 64th minute and the incident was put on report by referee Ian Smith as tempers got a little heated.

The match was wrapped up in the 77th minute when Michael Dobson picked up a loose ball and raced 90 metres to score before converting his own try.

Webster will have his injury assessed but with Rovers facing a short turnaround this week before tackling Warrington on Friday he must be doubtful.

Dragons' coach Kevin Walters said his side were "really busted" by injuries.

"We had a lot of ball and field position but we didn't have a recognised No 9 and at this level without a quality player in that position you have problems," he said.

"Also we did not have much luck. We got over the line a couple of times but they held us up and that was good defence by Rovers."

Hull KR: Briscoe, Fox, Webster, Welham, Cockayne, Murrell, Dobson, Vella, Hodgson, Clinton, Galea, Newton, Watts. Substitutes: Fisher, Netherton, Wheeldon, Lovegrove.

Catalans Dragons: Pelo, Bell, Raguin, Sa, Vaccari, Bosc, Sherwin, Ferriol, Mounis, Guisset, Elima, Carlaw, Johnson. Substitutes: Fakir, Casty, Gigot, A. Bentley.

Referee: I Smith (Oldham).