WIGAN WARRIORS 68 LEIGH LEOPARDS 4
LORRAINE MARSDEN, Edge Hall Road, Thursday

THERE was no Challenge Cup hangover for Wigan as they ran in 13 tries against a Leigh side who simply couldn’t match the hosts’ strength and power.

Warriors coach Denis Betts resisted the temptation to make wholesale changes despite only a five-day turnaround, with twelve of last Saturday’s team involved again. Elara Grace Llewellyn-Sharrock and Katie Palmer were named on the bench for their debuts and Lauréane Biville made her third debut for the club after rejoining them last month.

Wigan opened the scoring on their very first set when a move started by Beri Salihi ended with Jenna Foubister’s flat pass putting Eva Hunter through.

Then when Megan Williams and Lucie Sams combined to put Isabel Rowe away for a second, followed quickly by a Salihi effort in the corner, it looked to be one-way traffic.

Despite Leigh stemming the flow for periods, further tries from Cerys Jones, Anna Davies and Foubister plus Eva Hunter’s second made it 38-0 at the break, with Rowe adding five of the conversions.

Tries in the second half followed for Grace Banks, a second for Cerys Jones, a third for Eva Hunter and one each for Remi Wilton and Llewellyn-Sharrock, before Leigh got a consolation score through Kate Howard.

Cerys Jones completed her hat-trick with just minutes left to round off the scoring as Rowe kicked a further goal before leaving field, with Foubister taking over and adding another two.

WARRIORS: 1 Grace Banks, 2 Anna Davies, 26 Lauréane Biville, 22 Ruby Hunter, 16 Beri Salihi, 6 Jenna Foubister, 7 Isabel Rowe, 21 Jade Gregory-Haselden, 19 Remi Wilton, 20 Lucie Sams, 11 Eva Hunter, 12 Cerys Jones, 13 Megan Williams. Subs (all used): 9 Carys Marsh, 10 Mia Atherton, 24 Elara Grace Llewellyn-Sharrock, 27 Katie Palmer

Tries: E Hunter (2, 36, 49), Rowe (6), Salihi (8), C Jones (15, 45, 74), Davies (18), Foubister (32), Banks (42), Wilton (56), Llewellyn-Sharrock (58); Goals: Rowe 6/8; Foubister 2/5

LEOPARDS: 2 Toryn Blackwood, 25 Freya Turner, 3 Nicole Barnett, 20 Becky Webb, 18 Isabelle Malyon, 6 Rhianna Burke, 7 Leah Morris, 8 Eleanor Dainty, 9 Kate Howard, 16 Lucy Johnson, 11 Emily Baggaley, 19 Libby Wall, 13 Storm Cobain. Subs (all used): 10 Mairead Quinn, 14 Abi Gordon, 17 Macy McDermott, 21 Olivia Hill

Tries: Howard (65); Goals: Cobain 0/1

SCORING SEQUENCE: 6-0, 12-0, 16-0, 22-0, 26-0, 32-0, 38-0; 44-0, 48-0, 54-0, 58-0, 64-0, 64-4, 68-4

Half-time: 38-0