“Finding a way to win” – George Williams hails Warrington Wolves’ ‘grit’ after Challenge Cup win

Man of the Match George Williams has spoken on Warrington Wolves’ ‘grit’ after their 20-12 win over St Helens in the Challenge Cup quarter-finals.

It was the second meeting between the teams in three weeks with Wire winning each of their games in the past three weeks by grinding out results, something Williams has put down to a “grit” that he claims wasn’t present in the squad at the start of the year.

After losing heavily in Las Vegas to Wigan, Warrington returned to England with a bump as they lost against Wakefield Trinity but recent results have suggested that they’ve turned a corner – something Sam Burgess would claim after the win over Saints.

Burgess’ captain certainly seems to agree as well with Williams speaking post-match to BBC Sport after his Man of the Match display, conceding that there is plenty to work on but that the improvement in attitude and fortitude is there for all to see.

“It was tough, really tough,” assessed Williams, adding: “I think credit goes to St Helens who played some good rugby there and they played some offloads but we’ve got loads and loads to work on, but I just like the grit in our team at the moment.

“We didn’t have that at the start of the year. The last couple of weeks have shown that when we’re in tight games, we’re finding a way to win.”

Warrington Wolves make Challenge Cup semi-finals after “finding a way to win”

🤩@WarringtonRLFC triumph and have taken the last spot in the #ChallengeCup Semi-Finals! pic.twitter.com/BwQCJSZ1dj

— Betfred Challenge Cup (@TheChallengeCup) April 6, 2025

Victories of 14-12, 16-14 and now 20-12 also underline that the Warrington defence is improving which is something the Wolves prided themselves on last year as they conceded the fewest points in Super League.

Those results also suggest a lack of tries with just seven in their last three and Williams admitted that their attack is still ‘scratchy’, whilst also claiming the team’s spine was “disconnected” at times, which is to be somewhat expected given the fact Marc Sneyd is still less than a month into his time with the club.

Williams explained: “I think we’re still very very scratchy with the ball at times but we’re just finding a way to win and you need that in a big game so I’m really really proud of our efforts but there’s lots to work on.

“I think we were disconnected a little bit in the spine. We missed our jobs a few times but in big games you have just got to defend your line and I think we did that really well.”

Speaking of the spine, Sneyd also spoke after the match and confirmed much of what Williams said in respect to the game being a “tough battle”, adding: “It was exactly what we expected after the game two weeks ago. The weather made it a very hot one and a feisty one, we expected a close game and we got one but we’ve come out on the right side.”

On making the semi-finals, where they will face Leigh Leopards, Sneyd said: “It’s outstanding. For a club like Warrington, it’s probably expected but you’ve still got to do the job to get there so luckily we’ve done it and we’ve got a semi-final to look forward to.”