WIGAN WARRIORS 44 WAKEFIELD TRINITY 2
DAVID KUZIO, The Brick Community Stadium, Sunday
BEVAN FRENCH put the rest of Super League on notice as he returned from injury to guide Wigan to a comfortable win and put a huge dent in Wakefield’s play-off aspirations.
French returned from a seven-game absence with a calf injury to run Trinity ragged in the sunshine as the Warriors got back to winning ways following their loss to Hull KR last week.
The Australian scored a try and had a hand in the other two as the Warriors led 18-2 at the break, and although he was a little quieter in the second period he was still the difference overall.
Wakefield struggled to keep hold of the ball from the start and kept inviting Wigan to attack, although they somehow escaped punishment until the 16th minute.
The ball went right and French noticed the defence had moved up too quickly as he put in a cute kick which bounced kindly into the arms of Adam Keighran to score and then convert his own try.
French was terrorising Wakefield with his kicking game as the champions dominated every aspect of the game.
A little bit of magic and fortune saw the Warriors extend their lead. French went on one of his runs and sent in a kick that looked like Sam Walters would just dive on to score, but the ball hit the post and bounced into the arms of French himself to touch down.
Harry Smith made it 12-0 as he took on kicking duties for the rest of the match.
French was involved in Wigan’s third try too as he put Liam Farrell through a gap. The skipper then offloaded for Zach Eckersley to touch down in the corner.
Smith converted, and although Max Jowitt slotted over a penalty on the hooter, the Warriors led 18-2 at the break in a half they controlled all the way through.
Wigan took just five minutes of the second half to put this game to bed, going wide with Smith and Jake Wardle combining to send Liam Marshall away. The winger then turned the ball inside for Junior Nsemba to race over.
They were strangling the life out of Wakefield in both attack and defence. French’s boot was pinning them back while the likes of Walters, Farrell, Kaide Ellis and Nsemba were putting in big shifts on both sides of the ball.
Wigan’s fifth try came out of nothing as Keighran kept the ball alive to offload to Farrell, who put Patrick Mago through a massive gap. The prop then sent Field racing away to score and Smith added another conversion for a 30-2 advantage.
A short restart was gathered by Tom Johnstone to put the visitors in a rare attacking position and they then received two penalties on Wigan’s line, but an amazing cover tackle from Keighran on Jowitt saw the fullback go into touch.
Wigan were reduced to 12 men with 20 minutes remaining, with Ethan Havard shown a yellow card for a high shot with his shoulder on Lachlan Walmsley.
Wakefield came close to scoring a try as Mike McMeeken broke clear and offloaded to Mason Lino, but just as he was about to race away he was hit from behind by French and the scrum-half dropped the ball.
Despite having a man less, the Warriors created an overlap with French and Farrell combining to send Eckersley over unopposed for his second try.
Marshall then produced a trademark acrobatic dive to register his 149th Super League try for the Warriors, while Walters ended the scoring with a try his performance deserved following a 75-metre break from Field.
GAMESTAR: For the 67 minutes he was on the field, Bevan French was head and shoulders above everyone else and tormented Wakefield all afternoon.
GAMEBREAKER: Wakefield were technically still in the game at half-time, but Junior Nsemba’s try five minutes after the interval meant there was no way back for the Yorkshire side.
HIGHLIGHT REEL: The awareness of Bevan French to put a kick in close to Wakefield’s line and anticipate it hitting the post before catching it and scoring.
ALBERT GOLDTHORPE POINTS
3 pts Bevan French (Wigan)
2 pts Sam Walters (Wigan)
1 pt Junior Nsemba (Wigan)
MATCHFACTS
WARRIORS
1 Jai Field
22 Zach Eckersley
3 Adam Keighran
4 Jake Wardle
5 Liam Marshall
6 Bevan French
7 Harry Smith
8 Ethan Havard
9 Brad O’Neill
16 Liam Byrne
21 Sam Walters
12 Liam Farrell
13 Kaide Ellis
Subs (all used)
11 Junior Nsemba
15 Patrick Mago
17 Kruise Leeming
20 Harvie Hill
18th man (not used)
19 Tyler Dupree
Also in 21-man squad
2 Abbas Miski
24 Jack Farrimond
26 Jacob Douglas
Tries: Keighran (16), French (24), Eckersley (32, 66), Nsemba (45), Field (65), Marshall (73), Walters (78)
Goals: Keighran 1/1, Smith 5/7
Sin bin: Havard (60) – high tackle
TRINITY
1 Max Jowitt
2 Lachlan Walmsley
3 Cameron Scott
19 Oliver Pratt
5 Tom Johnstone
6 Jake Trueman
20 Mason Lino
8 Mike McMeeken
9 Liam Hood
17 Matty Storton
12 Josh Griffin
18 Isaiah Vagana
13 Jay Pitts
Subs (all used)
16 Renouf Atoni
21 Mathieu Cozza
28 Harvey Smith
31 Caius Faatili
18th man (not used)
23 Josh Rourke
Also in 21-man squad
11 Seth Nikotemo
33 Noah High
35 Ellis Lingard
Goals: Jowitt 1/1
SCORING SEQUENCE: 6-0, 12-0, 18-0, 18-2; 24-2, 30-2, 34-2, 38-2, 44-2
Rugby Leaguer & League Express Men of the Match
Warriors: Bevan French; Trinity: Mike McMeeken
Penalty count: 6-9
Half-time: 18-2
Referee: Chris Kendall
Attendance: 13,932