Wigan Warriors will take their Super League meeting with Catalans Dragons to the Stade Jean-Bouin in Paris this weekend, giving rugby league a rare showcase in one of the world’s best-known capitals. Head coach Matt Peet called it an exciting event and said the club will embrace the trip to the French capital.
Peet said the move was innovative because it puts rugby league on the map in a city that sits far beyond the sport’s traditional strongholds. The stadium is next to Paris St Germain’s home, a setting that should help the fixture cut through in a place more used to elite football than rugby league.
The timing also gives the game extra weight. The match marks 20 years of Catalans Dragons in Super League, and it comes as Wigan and Catalans prepare to meet again after the 2023 Grand Final. Peet said the players are excited, the lads are buzzing and the energy in the club is great, adding that there are good feelings around the squad as they head into the weekend.
He also expects the occasion to draw more than just the teams involved. Peet said the game should bring media attention and excitement for fans from both clubs, and he was confident it would deliver. But he did not dress up the challenge. Wigan can enjoy the setting, he said, but they will still need to be very good to get the win.
That mix of ambition and caution is what makes the fixture stand out. Wigan have taken games to grounds from Millwall to Wollongong in recent years, but Paris gives the club a different sort of stage: a capital city, a major global destination and a chance for Super League to widen its reach. Peet said there is a genuine appetite for rugby league in that part of the world, and Catalans’ place in the competition has helped build it over time.
For Wigan, the journey is about more than a one-off trip. Catalans beat them 38-30 in their first Super League game in 2006, and the sides have shared some of the competition’s biggest recent moments, including their meeting in the 2023 Grand Final. This weekend at the stade jean-bouin, Peet and his players will try to turn the occasion into another headline while making sure the result still matches the stage.
