On rugby league’s 125th birthday, it was the game’s most successful club who were the big winners as Wigan Warriors moved four points clear at the top of Super League with a 30-22 win over Castleford Tigers.
Castleford showed ample fight in a match that they were only drafted in for in midweek after positive Covid-19 tests at Catalans Dragons but Wigan, led by superb back-rower Liam Farrell, proved too strong.
Adrian Lam’s outfit dug in after a difficult start, and their athletic forwards had the power and energy to last the course in a match which was intense from the first minute.
While the Warriors have lost only once in 2020, Castleford suffered a third defeat in a row since the restart. After wilting against Catalans they were resilient against St Helens, and it was more of the latter again as they battled strongly but found the tank empty late on.
In the second part of the double header at Warrington’s Halliwell Jones Stadium, Leeds Rhinos ran riot against Salford Red Devils with both Richie Myler and Ash Handley scoring hat-tricks in a 50-12 win.
Warriors win the battle
The Wigan victory came despite Castleford opening up an early 12-0 lead. They kept up pressure after Liam Marshall’s try-saving tackle and Gareth O’Brien drifted over for the first score, before Nathan Massey dropped over the line for another with Danny Richardson converting both.
But a Mike McMeeken error in the first tackle from the restart saw the momentum swing in favour of Wigan, who halved the deficit when Sam Powell’s darting run saw him plant the ball on the line.
A fine try saw them narrow the gap to two points with Jackson Hastings skipping through a gap and delivering a neat offload to Farrell, who in turn drove forward before executing the final pass for Joe Burgess. Ben Flower scored their third try, and his first of the season, after work from Tommy Leulaui and Powell to put them 16-12 up at the break.
The second half started with a lengthy stoppage as Castleford winger James Clare suffered a concerning neck injury, in a tackle which saw Morgan Smithies sent to the sin bin having been fortunate to stay on at the end of the first half after headbutting Grant Millington.
The Tigers quickly took advantage of the extra man with O’Brien’s clever pass sending Derrell Olpherts into the corner to level, but Wigan had edged back in front by the time Smithies returned as Zak Hardaker slotted over a penalty.
Back to full strength, Wigan had the energy to push on in the final quarter. Farrell scored with a barrelling charge after Richardson was controversially penalised for a forward pass, before Joe Bullock brushed aside both Adam Milner and the post pad to touch down after a brilliant Harry Smith 40/20.
Castleford retained some hope when their former star Hardaker unsuccessfully flapped a leg and an arm at a Jake Trueman kick and skipper Michael Shenton scored with five minutes to go, but Wigan held on.
Rhinos back on the charge
Another of the 22 clubs which founded the sport on this day in 1895, Leeds, reaffirmed their play-off credentials with a dismantling of Salford. Chastening back-to-back defeats against St Helens and Wigan had seen the Rhinos slip out of the top four, but they were dominant from the start with former Red Devil Rob Lui excelling alongside half-back partner Luke Gale.
It was a brutal return to action for Salford, who had been out of action for three weeks as their squad self-isolated following their match against Hull FC, where a Covid-19 outbreak was subsequently discovered. The lack of fitness and practice was perhaps telling - not helped by further injuries in the game - as they produced a performance in stark contrast to that thrashing of Hull, and they were sent on their way with three Leeds tries in the space of seven minutes.
Handley was free to dive into the corner for the first, assisted by Liam Sutcliffe who also provided the next by palming a high Gale kick into the arms of Myler. Lui created the third try with a quick run from dummy-half exposing Salford’s soft middle, allowing the supporting Gale to score before denying a try at the other end by shutting out a flying Niall Evalds.
Another burst of two tries in three minutes put them well clear before half-time. A Matt Prior offload and Handley inside kick allowed Myler to scoop the ball up for his second, before Handley registered his own double with a formidable leap, catch and touchdown from Gale’s pin-point kick.
Ian Watson’s side came out with more enthusiasm at the beginning of the second half and Evalds twice collected kicks for tries, the first his own kick and the second from Kevin Brown. It would not be the start of a Salford comeback though, as Lui burst over for a try before prop Mikolaj Oledzki smashed through Josh Johnson for another.
The final minutes provided both Myler and Handley with their hat-trick scores, Myler chasing his hopeful kick following a Gale offload before an 80m Handley sprint. Those scores take them above Warrington Wolves in fourth place on points difference, while Salford slip to tenth with just two wins this season.