The sense of occasion and knock-on effects will resonate much more than Catalans’ hard-won victory over Toulouse
Almost exactly 27 years to the day since the former chief executive of the Rugby Football League, Maurice Lindsay, unveiled the grand plans for the advent of Super League and the proposed continental expansion which came with it, few should have afforded themselves a smile more than Lindsay here as history was made, with two French sides facing one another in the competition for the first time.
The original plans for the first Super League season in 1996 included two French teams, Toulouse and Paris. That ultimately never materialised, with Toulouse not making it to the start line and Paris Saint-Germain lasting barely a couple of seasons. But here, the vision and belief so many traditionalists laughed at for years, the notion that two French teams could stand side by side in the elite competition, finally came to fruition as Catalans hosted Toulouse: and it was a moment for all of rugby league, not just those in France, to savour.
