Wigan Warriors winger Joe Burgess scored a hat-trick of tries as Shaun Wane’s men inflicted a first defeat of the season on Wakefield Trinity.
MATCH DETAILS
Wakefield had a 12-10 lead going into the half-time break after a brace from Ben Jones-Bishop and Liam Finn’s kicking game edged tries from Burgess and Taulima Tautai. Wigan rallied in the second half, however, as Burgess added further tries either side of Tom Davies’ effort to ensure the win for the hosts.
FOUR POINTERS
BRILLIANT BURGESS
Liam Marshall has five tries for the season already, but it was teammate Burgess who starred in Sunday’s win, as the Englishman took his tally for the season to four. Tom Davies, who is also pushing for a shout in the first-team under Wane, chipped in with a try of his own late on.
FIRST DEFEAT FOR TRINITY
Wakefield looked good when in the first half as the ball broke from Davies’ handling error, and in typical style this season, Trinity worked the ball wide to give Jones-Bishop his first try of the game. The lead had changed hands three times shortly after the half-time break, but as Burgess and Davies ensured a win for Wigan, Tinirau Arona’s late try could not threaten the hosts.
TOMKINS THE PROVIDER
Sam Tomkins was influential once more, with three assists helping his side to victory. The 28-year-old produced sublime passes for Burgess’ second and Davies’ try, while also tipping on to see Burgess complete his hat-trick.
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JONES-BISHOP CONTINUING TO PRODUCE
Wakefield look good on the wing this season and if it’s not Tom Johnstone producing, Ben Jones-Bishop is usually there on hand, as he was on Sunday. The Englishman touched down to give Trinity the lead, before ensuring that his side went into half-time in the lead with a second try.
WHAT THEY ARE SAYING
Wigan coach Wane was full of praise for Tomkins’ performance, adding that the full-back is focused on his domestic form after missing out on the England performance squad earlier in the week.
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He toldย Wigan Today: “[Tomkins] seems to have fallen out of favour [with England] but I don’t think he’s stressing about it, I just think he wants to play well for Wigan which is to my liking.
“I want to leave Sam at full-back for a bit. It was a good win, they’re a solid team and they’re going to be hard to beat.”
Trinity boss Chris Chester has said that he is proud of his side’s performance, despite dropping off in the second period. He told reporters: “I thought it was a really good contest. It was a tale of two halves.
“We probably didn’t want half time to come because we were finishing the half pretty strongly. I thought we looked dangerous every time we got the ball. The effort was brilliant and, had we been a bit smarter in the second half, things might have been different. It was a spirited performance, we were good in a lot of areas.”
THE RESULT
WIGAN WARRIORS 30
Tries:ย Joe Burgess x3, Taulima Tautai x1, Tom Davies x1
Goals:ย Morgan Escare x1, Sam Tomkins x4
Drop Goals:ย n/a
WAKEFIELD TRINITY 18
Tries:ย Ben Jones-Bishop x2, Tinirau Arona x1
Goals: Liam Finn x3
Drop Goals:ย n/a
SQUADS
WIGAN WARRIORS: Tomkins, Davies, Bateman, Gildart, Burgess, Williams, Powell, Clubb, Leuluai, Flower, Isa, Farrell, O’Loughlin (Sutton, Tauti, Escare, Navarrete)
WAKEFIELD TRINITY: Grix, Jones-Bishop, Lyne, Tupou, Johnstone, Miller, Finn, England, Fifita, Ashurst, Kirmond, Arona, Randell (Wood, Huby, Horo, Hirst)
