Catalans Lose Bosc

Catalans Dragons have suffered a major blow ahead of Sunday’s Carnegie Challenge Cup semi-final against Wigan Warriors with the loss of leading scorer Thomas Bosc.

The 23-year-old goal-kicking winger, who is sixth in the list of leading scorers this season with 191 points, has been ruled out with a broken arm sustained in Saturday’s 34-18 home engage Super League defeat by Hull FC.

Bosc, who made his debut at full-back for France in their 42-14 defeat by Great Britain last month, will be sidelined for at least six weeks, virtually ruling him out for the rest of the season.

He leaves a big hole for coach Mick Potter to fill, having appeared in each of the Catalans’ last 22 league and cup matches.

Vincent Duport, who has been on the bench for the last two matches after recovering from a groin injury, is favourite to take over on the wing and captain Stacey Jones is likely to take on the kicking responsibilities.

"He’ll be difficult to replace but we’ve got a couple of different options and we’ll look at them as the week goes on," said Potter.

The Dragons, who knocked out 2005 winners Hull in the semi-finals, are aiming to make history by becoming the first French team to reach the cup final, which will return to Wembley on August 25.