Catalans Dragons’ Sam Tomkins makes admission about St Helens ahead of Challenge Cup clash

No one in the Catalans Dragons camp knows more than Sam Tomkins about the buzz of excitement which surrounds any match involving St Helens.

The 33-year-old full back, who launched his senior career at Wigan, has experienced moments of joy and agony against the old enemy - and now wearing the shirt of the French club he will be looking for a positive result in the Betfred Challenge Cup tie of the round at the Stade Gilbert Brutus on Saturday.

Tomkins, who won the cup with Wigan at Wembley in 2011 and 2013, is solely focused on the quarter-final showdown with holders St Helens and admitted that he didn’t realise this year’s final had been switched to Spurs’ newly-built stadium in North London.

The England international said: “It doesn’t bother me where the final is being staged, it’s about winning the trophy, not where it’s at. Tottenham is a good stadium, I’m sure, but I don’t think that will have any effect.

“You want to win, regardless of where it is. If it was played at Wigan St Pat’s’, it wouldn’t matter as long as you got the Challenge Cup at the end.

”We know what’s at stake, it’s a special competition and, if we’re going to go and win it, we need to beat the best teams and that’s what Saints are.”

Tomkins added: “We can play better than we have done recently but we don’t think Saints are unbeatable and there are areas where we can exploit their weaknesses.”