MATCH DETAILS
Sam Tomkins marked his return from injury with a brace as Wigan Warriors secured a resounding 30-0 victory over the Salford Red Devils to maintain their pressure on the top of the table.
After a scoreless opening quarter, Warriors centre Oliver Gildart spotted a gap in the visitors defence before outpacing stand-in full-back Derrell Olpherts to score.
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Tony Clubb barged his way over from close range two minutes later before George Williams capitalised on some lacklustre right edge defence to add a third before the break.
Tommy Leuluai’s short pass found full-back Tomkins to stretch out and grab his first of the evening, before finding yet another gap in the Salford line to double his tally with ten minutes left.
John Bateman added a sixth try of the night with less than five minutes to go and the Wigan defence held firm late on to keep the visitors to nil and secure their sixth win in a row.
WHAT WE’VE LEARNED
Tomkins Back With A Bang
Love him or hate him, Sam Tomkins is one of the best English players of this generation, and he showed his worth to this Warriors side with a wonderful performance against Ian Watson’s side.
His two tries were both well taken and needed finishing and that is what Tomkins does best.
After his recent injury, the England international will be hoping he can stay clear of any more knocks and continue adding his worth to Shaun Wane’s squad as we edge closer to the magic weekend.
Lack Of Spark Hinders Salford
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The main negative for Ian Watson during this game was the fact that they never really looked like troubling the Wigan rearguard often enough throughout the 80 minutes.
In addition, silly errors in poor areas of the field gave the Warriors too much territory and a side of their quality don’t need asking twice to score.
Watson and co know that they need to find a formula for their stalling attack in recent weeks. Losing Gareth O’Brien was a huge blow but the Red Devils must now work through it and find a solution if they are to maintain eighth place in the Betfred Super League.
Man Of The Match- Sam Tomkins
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What more do we really need to say?
We all know how influential Sam Tomkins can be for his side and he showed his value with a man of the match display.
Greater tests lie ahead for the Warriors- including a mouth-watering clash again similarly in-form Warrington at the Dacia Magic Weekend- and they will need a fully firing Tomkins to pass such tests.
THE RESULT
Wigan Warriors 30
Tries:ย Gildart, Clubb, Williams, S.Tomkins 2, Bateman
Goals: S.Tomkins 3
Drop Goals:ย n/a
Salford Red Devils 0
Tries: n/a
Goals: n/a
Drop Goals:ย n/a
SQUADS
Wigan Warriors:ย S Tomkins; Davies, Sarginson, Gildart, L Marshall; Williams, Powell; Navarrete, Leuluai, Flower, Isa, Bateman, J Tomkins.
Replacements:ย Clubb, Sutton, Tautai, Escare.
Salford Red Devils:ย Olpherts; Johnson, Sa’u, Welham, Bibby; Shorrocks, Littlejohn; Kopczak, Tomkins, Bennion, Hauraki, Lannon, Murray.
Replacements:ย Tasi, Burgess, McCarthy, Nzoungou.
Referee:ย C. Kendall
