Matt Peet has confirmed that Wigan Warriors will be flying direct to Toulouse ahead of this weekend’s clash with Toulouse Olympique.
The Warriors will be the second team to travel to Stade Ernest Wallon this season and they do so after Castleford Tigers’ nightmare journey a fortnight ago.
With no direct flights to Toulouse from the north of England, Castleford spent 13 hours trying to get the French city, flying from Manchester Aiport to Munich before changing in Bavaria and heading to their final destination.
And, after all that, Castleford were beaten by the newly promoted outfit, with Ryan Carr’s side remaining winless at that point in the season. Carr has criticised the planning of the trip since, while Chester, who booked the travel, has admitted his error.
Wigan won’t be making the same mistake, though, with the Cherry and Whites heading down to London Stansted to fly direct to Toulouse.
“We’re taking a coach to Stansted before flying to Toulouse tomorrow – that’s the only direct flight,” Peet told the club’s website. “It’s been planned for some time and we’ll do the reverse on Sunday.
“A lot of the time it’s [planning] that contributes to performance and ensures players have no distractions. There will be no excuses as we have to remember Toulouse do this every other week.”
On the challenge of Toulouse, the Wigan Warriors boss added: “I’ve [been impressed] along with the other promoted teams. Toulouse benefit from being a team that have played together under the same coach. They have good cohesion, they understand the style, and they’ve got some outstanding players. They’ll be very proud welcoming us, I’m sure.”
