Laurent Frayssinous started his Super League coaching career with a win as his Catalan Dragons beat Hull KR 32-24 at MS3 Craven Park.
Frayssinous had the unenviable task of replacing Trent Robinson as the Dragons coach, but Robinson left the team in great shape after finishing fourth last season.
The rookie coach reduced his pre-season to six weeks and that seemed to do the trick as Catalan started with a comfortable win.
One of the few bright spots for Rovers last season was keeping the French side to three tries or less in three close encounters, but Catalan scored four in the first half today after Michael Dobson gave Rovers a third-minute lead with a penalty.
The lead only lasted four minutes as Thomas Bosc sent Zeb Taia over for a try and Bosc converted for a 6-2 lead which Jason Baitieri extended as he took advantage of some slack defending from Rovers.
Super League's oldest player Steve Menzies then rolled back the years with two tries in the closing stages of the first half.
His first came when Brent Webb's pass caught Rovers off guard on their left-hand side. The best try of the half came on the opposite flank when Jamal Fakir broke with electric pace before sending the 39-year-old Menzies away for a simple score. Bosc landed three of the four conversions as the home side struggled.
Rovers' problems worsened three minutes after the break. A breakdown in communication 20 metres from their own line between Con Mika and Lincoln Withers gifted Catalan possession from which Fakir ran through unopposed to score. Bosc missed the conversion but the Dragons led 26-2.
Rovers finally got over the Catalan line in the 51st minute from a superb offload from Cory Paterson.
It was just what Rovers needed with half an hour to play and another Paterson offload helped set up Rovers' second try. A Dobson kick was dropped a metre from his try line by Webb and fell invitingly for Josh Hodgson to pick up and score. Dobson converted to make it 26-12.
Suddenly Rovers were on top and they made the most of their dominance when Omari Caro scored his side's third try of the game. Centre Liam Salter provided the perfect flick pass for the winger to score and Dobson converted to set up a tense finale.
However, Webb then secured victory for the Dragons with the killer try. Young prop Julian Bousquet powered through a gap in defence and offloaded for Webb to score.
The game's final score came for the home side when Hodgson found Withers to open his account for the season with two minutes remaining. Dobson's conversion made the final score 32-24.
Hull KR will be hoping for a much more successful campaign in the Super League this year after making several changes to their squad.
Coach Craig Sandercock has included NRL recruits Corey Paterson and Evarn Tuimavave in his squad as they welcome Catalan Dragons to Craven Park.
Omari Caro and Greg Eden, who signed from London Broncos, are also set to play.
The Robins will be without Kris Welham, Ryan O'Hara and two of their other signings Sean Gleeson and the suspended Travis Burns.
Catalan Dragons new head coach Laurent Frayssinous has named marquee signing, fullback Brent Webb, in his squad for the opener.
Oliivier Elima and Zeb Taia will be in the team after both were recruited from Bradford Bulls and Newcastle Knights respectively.
Playmaker Scott Dureau will miss the season opener through injury.
Hull KR: Salter, Caro, Lovegrove, Horne, Walker, Paterson, Mika, Tuimavave, Cox, Griffin, J. Hodgson, Paea, Carlile, Hall, Dobson, Eden, Latus, Withers, D. Hodgson.
Catalan Dragons: Webb, Blanch, Pryce, Taia, Bosc, Elima, Henderson, Casty, Menzies, Anderson, Mounis, Barthau, Pelissier, Millard, Pala, Bousquet, Fakir, Baitieri, Duport.
Huddersfield have the option to re-sign Hull KR full-back Greg Eden in two-years' time, according to Rovers chief executive Mike Smith.
Eden joined Rovers as a replacement for Shannon McDonnell, who left the Robins to join Hull in the off-season, but Smith told a fans' forum on Wednesday night that Eden's contract includes a clause that could see him return to the Giants ahead of the 2015 season.
"He has to want to go back there," Smith said of Eden. "There are some clubs we get on better with and Huddersfield are one of those clubs for us.
"Huddersfield were happy for Greg to come to us. Sometimes they want the chance to bring that player back. They have that chance after two years but he has to want to go.
"They have to entice him back and they have first choice on him but he can stay where he is. I think it was put in the contract to appease some of the Huddersfield fans who weren't happy to see him leave.
"It's the first time I've come across a clause like that."