![\"Screenshot](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/32870.png\")
<\/p>\nIt’s a classic quiz question for the ages: who scored the first try in Super League history? <\/p>\n
There\u2019s some legendary players who featured in the opening season of rugby league\u2019s summer era, including Great Britain centre Paul Newlove who finished as the competition\u2019s top scorer with 28 tries as St Helens became champions.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Wigan Warriors\u00a0iconic captain\u00a0Andy Farrell\u00a0was named Man of Steel, club-mate Jason Robinson was ripping defences to shreds\u00a0while\u00a0young gun Iestyn Harris was making strides\u00a0and scoring some stunning solo efforts\u00a0at Warrington Wolves.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But anyone who knows their onions will recall it was a far less familiar name who got the first try of Super League when the bright new era kicked off in 1996 – Frederic\u00a0Banquet.\u00a0<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The French\u00a0centre, of course, crossed when\u00a0expansion newcomers\u00a0Paris St Germain kicked off amid all the hype and razzmatazz in\u00a0their\u00a0Charlety\u00a0Stadium, picking up a famous 30-24 opening night win against Sheffield Eagles.\u00a0<\/p>\n
As\u00a0Super League prepares to celebrate its 30th\u00a0birthday on March 29\u00a0\u2013 the anniversary of that landmark fixture \u2013 Banquet admitted,\u00a0from his home in France, that\u00a0his recollections\u00a0remain\u00a0vivid.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He said: \u201cMy\u00a0main\u00a0memories are of a\u00a0Charlety\u00a0Stadium filled with French and English supporters\u00a0\u2013 there was almost 18,000 people there –\u00a0and the opening of the Super League in Europe.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cEven though it was 30 years ago, I still remember that try when the Sheffield player [Johnny Lawless] lost control of the ball about 30m from his own line.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI recovered it and managed to get over for the first try of the match \u2013 and the first try in Super League.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI didn’t really have time to feel any emotion at that point because I was so caught up in the game. \u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cBut, today, it\u00a0remains\u00a0one of the best memories of my career. And we always see that try replayed every year when the Super League resumes.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
It was also a belated birthday present for Banquet who had turned 20 just five days earlier.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Among the PSG side that day was brilliant France scrum-half\u00a0Patrick Entat who remains one of the greatest players in Les Tricolores\u2019 history.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Banquet, now 50, added: \u201cI was incredibly lucky to play against Patrick Entat when he was at Leeds and I was at Featherstone Rovers two years before the Super League started.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe had already played together for the French national team, and then again in 1996 with PSG.\u00a0He was an exemplary player on the pitch:\u00a0an outstanding leader, and a man who loved to win.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
PSG, of course, only\u00a0managed three\u00a0victories\u00a0all season in 1996,\u00a0the others coming against Workington Town and London.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Banquet played\u00a0in\u00a0them all\u00a0\u2013\u00a0he scored seven tries in 18 appearances before\u00a0rejoining\u00a0Wakefield Trinity the following campaign \u2013 but the French side only lasted\u00a0two seasons in Super League before disbanding, beset\u00a0by a raft of issues which hindered their chances of success.\u00a0<\/p>\n
![\"Avpa-1-Paris-St-Germain-Team-1996\"\/](\"https:\/\/d81ytli4jheil.cloudfront.net\/images\/32868.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
Banquet, who\u00a0scored 15 tries in 20 games\u00a0largely as\u00a0a winger for Featherstone during the 1994-95 season, admitted: \u201cPersonally, having only played one season with PSG,\u00a0I think they\u00a0lacked the resources to create a truly professional club.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cTraining sessions were held in Toulouse, and matches took place either in Paris or England.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThe second season, the players were based in Paris, and that must have been a financial burden for the club.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Banquet was delighted, though, to see Catalans Dragons\u00a0eventually establish themselves in Super League as a genuine force for French rugby league.\u00a0<\/p>\n
They won the Challenge Cup in 2018, finished top\u00a0three years later\u00a0and have reached two Grand Finals, bringing so much to the competition.\u00a0And now Toulouse Olympique\u00a0are\u00a0also back in Super League for their second season in the top-flight, giving further belief that the sport can kick-on at the elite level.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Banquet, who featured briefly with Sheffield in 1995-96, added: \u201cSince being founded in 2000, Bernard Guasch has succeeded in his endeavour of creating a Super League team in Perpignan, structuring and stabilizing a truly professional club. \u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThey have now been in the competition for 20 years.\u00a0We can only hope for the same success in Toulouse.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause with these two professional clubs, rugby league is back in the spotlight in France\u00a0–\u00a0and this gives a lot of hope to our young players who\u00a0possess\u00a0immense talent and ambition.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Catalans will host Wigan\u00a0in Paris on\u00a0June 6\u00a0to mark the\u00a0anniversaries of 20 years of Catalans in Super League and\u00a0\u2013 where it all began –\u00a030 years since the start of Super League.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Banquet, who remains involved in the sport through his position on the French Rugby League Federation disciplinary committee, said: \u201cI hope to be there for what will be a wonderful event.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt’s\u00a0an excellent idea to hold another match in Paris for the 30th anniversary of the Super League.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cFurthermore, the Super XIII\u00a0Championship final will be played before the\u00a0Catalans v Wigan\u00a0match; this presents\u00a0a great opportunity\u00a0for fans to come together in the capital.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I\u00a0now\u00a0look back at Super League over\u00a0four decades,\u00a0it\u2019s\u00a0hard to pick\u00a0out who the best player has been. \u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cBut from my generation, the one who does spring to mind is\u00a0someone from that\u00a0Wigan club –\u00a0Andy Farrell.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Banquet, meanwhile, wishes he could have played more Super League; he returned to France in\u00a0July\u00a01997 after his second stint with\u00a0second\u00a0tier\u00a0Wakefield, still aged only 21.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He explained: \u201cThe year before the Super League, I signed with Sheffield Eagles, where I played for half a season.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cBut because the summer schedule featured the first Super League match between Paris and Sheffield, I\u00a0couldn\u2019t\u00a0stay with them [Eagles].\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI joined Wakefield for the end of that\u00a0[95-96]\u00a0season\u00a0instead, where I had\u00a0a great time\u00a0playing with some talented players. \u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI was supposed\u00a0to return to\u00a0England\u00a0later\u00a0on. But\u00a0having to do my military service in France prevented me from pursuing my childhood dream.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cAfter that, I played for Villeneuve-sur-Lot, where we won three French league titles and three French Cups, as well as a European Cup, in seven seasons.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI finished my career at Carcassonne, my boyhood club, with whom I won a French Cup at the age of 35 in 2009.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
By Dave Craven<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It’s a classic quiz question for the ages: who scored the first try in Super League history? There\u2019s…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":501043,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[5903,175920,101,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-501042","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-rugby","tag-rugby","tag-sl30-do-you-know-who-scored-the-first-ever-super-league-try","tag-sports","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/501042","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=501042"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/501042\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/501043"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=501042"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=501042"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=501042"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}