Warrington Wolves hammered Castleford Tigers 72-6 leaving head coach Sam Burgess a very happy man as he assessed the victory.
What was most impressive and pleasing to Burgess was the fact Warrington kept their foot on the throat of Castleford with the Wolves actually winning the second-half by a larger margin, as they ran in six tries to compound a wonderful performance.
“I was happy with the way we stayed at it for the whole game. It was a really disciplined performance,” Burgess told Sky Sports post-match.
He’d add: “I was probably most impressed with our physicality early. I thought we had to get that right in the first 20 minutes and we might have too much for them and that was the case.”
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Sam Burgess gives Ewan Irwin assessment
The first points of the game actually came from the boot of Ewan Irwin, selected in favour of Marc Sneyd, and when asked about the youngster, Burgess was full of praise.
He said: “He’s a very intelligent player and he’s very composed for a young man. He’s only going to get better the more times we expose him at this level.
“It’s about getting the balance right of it not being too much but he can handle it. We’ve just got to manage him through the year and see what we’ve got there.”
For how good Warrington were, Castleford were awful and when asked if he could have foreseen such a performance from the Tigers, Burgess focused more on his own side.
“I’d not want to comment on anything like that,” he admitted. “We put them under pressure and were very tidy. They’ve got a few injuries at the moment as well so I think today was a tough day for Castleford.
“The ball sort of bounced our way, we had a couple of calls early that went our way so I think the momentum went for us and we made them pay.”
Warrington Wolves boss welcomes return of star man
Another man who impressed was winger Matty Ashton who made his return from injury 314 days since he last played, with the England international scoring two tries in the first 15 minutes before completing his hat-trick late on.
That prompted Burgess to joke that he’d expected a couple more tries, before he gave his verdict: “He found himself in a space a couple of times which was nice and he was tackled in some awkward positions as well, so he’ll get a bit of confidence from that.
“It was more about having his energy in the team. He’s a wonderful bloke to coach, he loves playing the game and he brings a lot to our team. It was really nice to see him back in the squad and scoring a few tries.”
Having won four from four in Super League to start the season, Wire now face a tougher test against Leeds which is a game that Burgess is relishing.
He said: “We’ll enjoy today and have a day or two off but we’ll get ready for Leeds. We’re looking forward to it. They’ve been in some wonderful form and are very well-coached, it’s going to be a great test to see where we’re at.”
It’s four from four for @WarringtonRLFC 🐺#SuperLeague pic.twitter.com/VCkd1mkmpK
— Betfred Super League (@SuperLeague) March 21, 2026
