WIGAN WARRIORS 48 WARRINGTON WOLVES 24
DAVID KUZIO, Allegiant Stadium, Las Vegas, Saturday
WIGAN matched the bright lights and glamour of Las Vegas with a stunning display to completely outclass Warrington in every single department.
The Warriors played an almost perfect first half, scoring four tries without conceding any points as the Super League champions put on a dazzling display in front of the American and Australian audience.
And they crossed a further four times in the second half before letting up in the closing stages, when Warrington scored four tries of their own on an otherwise hugely disappointing day for Sam Burgess and his side.
Before all of the tries, two early efforts were ruled out, starting with Warrington who almost took the lead with their first meaningful attack.
A towering bomb from George Williams saw Toby King steal the ball from Adam Keighran to touch down, but the video referee ruled the tackle was complete and a penalty was awarded to Wigan.
Then it was Wigan’s turn to have a try chalked off. Some magic footwork from Bevan French put Wigan close, before a pin-point kick was collected by Junior Nsemba who broke a tackle and offloaded to Marshall. He looked like he acrobatically got it down, but television replays showed he dropped the ball.
Another chance went begging as Harry Smith tried a long ball over the top for Abbas Miski, but it sailed into touch. The Wolves were riding their luck and wouldn’t hold on for much longer.
Wigan’s kicking game was top notch and a Smith high kick was knocked towards the try-line by Josh Thewlis to allow Tyler Dupree to pick up and score the first Super League try in the USA.
The champions extended their lead thanks to the fingertips of Miski. A fluid passing move saw French and Keighran combine to send Miski away and the winger juggled the ball before regathering and touching down despite the efforts of Matt Dufty.
Everything Wigan touched ended with points. They made it three tries in eleven minutes as French scooped up a loose ball after another strong run from Nsemba. The ball from Nsemba hit Sam Walters, but it was ruled to have gone backwards and French went over.
Wigan still had time to extend their lead even further before half-time as French took on the line before turning the ball back for Smith to race over for 24-0 at the break.
The second half started with Wigan in similarly devastating form. Some good build-up play saw Field receive the ball, he released Marshall down the left and the winger sent the ball back inside to Field to put the game to bed.
Wigan were playing some champagne rugby. French showed more dazzling footwork to get Wigan in a good position, he found Field who then offloaded for Jake Wardle to walk over for an easy try to the sound of boos from the Warrington fans who had made the trip.
This was getting embarrassing for Warrington. French was untouchable and he scythed through some poor defending to find the supporting Field who then sent Luke Thompson over, and Adam Keighran’s perfect kicking meant it was 42-0.
Warrington only began to play in the final quarter and Arron Lindop managed to get his hand to a Williams grubber kick to score their first try, while James Harrison also scored after Ben Currie knocked back another kick from Williams.
Dufty also went over with five minutes to go, but it did not take the gloss on a stunning performance from the Warriors.
Wigan thought they had the final say when Marshall went over, but a full-length interception try from Matty Ashton saw them end on a positive while Thewlis goaled all four of their tries.
But it was a poor day for the Wolves, a memorable one for the Warriors and a historic one for Super League.
GAMESTAR: Bevan French was unplayable. Warrington could not lay a finger on him and he was at the heart of everything Wigan did.
GAMEBREAKER: Three tries in eleven first-half minutes rocked Warrington and they never recovered.
HIGHLIGHT REEL: The way Bevan French and Jai Field terrorised the Warrington defence before the latter turned the ball inside for prop Luke Thompson to score.
ALBERT GOLDTHORPE POINTS
3 pts Bevan French (Wigan)
2 pts Jai Field (Wigan)
1 pt Junior Nsemba (Wigan)
MATCHFACTS
WARRIORS
1 Jai Field
2 Abbas Miski
3 Adam Keighran
4 Jake Wardle
5 Liam Marshall
6 Bevan French
7 Harry Smith
16 Liam Byrne
17 Kruise Leeming
10 Luke Thompson
11 Junior Nsemba
12 Liam Farrell
13 Kaide Ellis
Subs (all used)
15 Patrick Mago
19 Tyler Dupree
21 Sam Walters
23 Tom Forber
18th man (not used)
22 Zach Eckersley
Also in 21-man squad
20 Harvie Hill
24 Jack Farrimond
27 Harvey Makin
Tries: Dupree (17), Miski (23), French (28), Smith (37), Field (45), Wardle (51), Thompson (54), Marshall (77)
Goals: Keighran 8/8
WOLVES
1 Matt Dufty
2 Josh Thewlis
33 Arron Lindop
3 Toby King
5 Matty Ashton
6 George Williams
18 Oli Leyland
10 Paul Vaughan
9 Danny Walker
13 Luke Yates
26 Dan Russell
12 Lachlan Fitzgibbon
11 Ben Currie
Subs (all used)
8 James Harrison
15 Joe Philbin
17 Jordy Crowther
32 Sam Powell
18th man (not used)
23 Cai Taylor-Wray
Also in 21-man squad
19 Stefan Ratchford
16 Zane Musgrove
22 Adam Holroyd
Tries: Lindop (64), Harrison (68), Dufty (75), Ashton (80)
Goals: Josh Thewlis 4/4
SCORING SEQUENCE: 6-0, 12-0, 18-0, 24-0; 30-0, 36-0, 42-0, 42-6, 42-12, 42-18, 48-18, 48-24
Rugby Leaguer & League Express Men of the Match
Warriors: Bevan French; Wolves: George Williams
Penalty count: 2-3
Half-time: 24-0
Referee: Chris Kendall
Attendance: 45,209