Castleford Tigers have defeated St Helens 28-14 at home in front of a sizeable English Super League crowd on a weekend of coronavirus-related disruptions in sport.
Peter Mata’utia’s early try and two from Derrell Olpherts put the hosts in command and although Tommy Makinson replied before halftime, Castleford built on their advantage in the second half with Jack Welsby and Jake Trueman going over.
“It’s been a mental week not knowing if we were going to be playing or not, but we just had to focus on ourselves and getting the two points against a great side,” Castleford’s Paul McShane told Sky Sports on Sunday.
Castleford went joint top with victory over the defending Super League champions, although when they play again is uncertain as the country’s other sports have largely been suspended due to coronavirus.
The British government on Thursday moved to the second stage of its response to the pandemic, which has infected 163,000 people globally and killed around 6000.
Infections in Britain jumped by more than 200 on Sunday to 1372, with 14 deaths bringing the total to 35.
English Premier League and Football League soccer has been suspended until April 3-4 at the earliest while around the world, soccer, tennis, Formula 1, all major American sports leagues and golf have ground to a halt.
Yet Super League elected to carry on, following the government’s decision not to outlaw mass gatherings in an effort to combat the spread of the virus.
It has inevitably raised eyebrows, although RFL chief executive Ralph Rimmer said that unless the advice changes they will be going forward with the season.
“I won’t pre-empt any decision from government,” he told BBC Radio 5 live.
“We have managed to liaise with them regularly and they have been very direct with their guidance.
“We’ll be meeting the professionals early this week to talk about what the options may look like in the future. But until anything changes we’ll be going forward.”
Castleford coach Daryl Powell said suspending Super League would be damaging to clubs.
“There’s no doubt about it, the main talking point this week has been coronavirus,” he said.
“The way it’s already impacting on all our lives and the sporting landscape is incredible.
“Financially, soccer can probably cop it but I don’t think rugby league can so there will be some serious thinking going on behind closed doors to see what needs to be done.”