Leeds crumble, Wigan dominant, Junior Nsemba, “completely wrong” referee call and more Wigan Warriors v Leeds Rhinos talking points

Wigan Warriors have secured a second big win in consecutive weeks after beating top of the table Leeds Rhinos.

The Warriors scored four tries, and arguably should have had a few more, with scores coming from Adam Keighran and Noah Hodkinson.

Jake Wardle and Jack Farrimond also crossed, with the latter also bagging the Man of the Match award for the third consecutive game.

Leeds’ winning run comes to a brutal stop, as their streak of five victories in a row ended in disappointing fashion.

Maika Sivo crossed for his 18th try of the season, but far too many chances went begging for Leeds in a night to forget for Brad Arthur’s side.

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Wigan Warriors v Leeds Rhinos talking points

Physical Wigan reap rewards:

A dominant Wigan side took the game to Leeds straight from the off, and that worked wonders for them.

Their middle unit were far superior compared to the Rhinos and that went a long way to their victory.

Going into the break 16-0 up, their ruthless defence went a long way to that, with Junior Nsemba, who will get a mention further down, one of the key enforcers.

Jack Farrimond being able to sit down Maika Sivo arguably summed up the game, as the young half-back put in another sublime display, as he did last week.

Leeds still on the bus:

Brad Arthur said pre-game that the past few times Leeds travelled to Wigan, they failed to get off the bus and the same can be said tonight.

Leeds have not won at Wigan since 2023, and they could have played for the rest of the evening and still not come up with enough attacking profits to get the win.

They were second best in almost every area, something they have not been used to in recent weeks.

With Huddersfield up next, you’d expect a response but this would have been a game Leeds earmarked early in the season, and in one of their biggest games of the league campaign they have failed to come up with the goods.

Another lengthy game:

Plenty has been said in regards to the time it takes for games to be completed, with far too many stoppages and video referee decisions slowing things down.

With three Captain’s Challenges and multiple video replays, the first half took just over 50 minutes, meaning the second half didn’t get underway until close to 9:10pm.

The second-half run much smoother, with no challenges or video ref decisions to contend with.

Regardless, that didn’t stop the game finishing at just before 10pm, with the length of the game another big talking point.

Rhinos denied potential try:

Leeds went into the break scoreless, but they can feel very aggrieved to not have been awarded a try.

Lachie Miller’s kick looked to be touched down by Harry Newman, but that was chalked off by the video referee. However, the ball went backwards in the in-goal, and Ryan Hall then touched down.

Video referee Jack Smith deemed the ball to have been knocked forward, despite clear footage of it going backwards.

Sky Sports pundit Sam Tomkins said at half-time that Leeds should have been awarded the try.

He explained: “He has to force the ball backwards because he’s going so close to the dead ball line. The referees have got that completely wrong.”

Nsemba for England:

For the second week running, Wigan back rower had a stormer of a game, causing destruction in both attack and defence. Brodie Croft was his opposite half, and his efforts silenced the Leeds talisman, limiting his efforts to prescious little.

After being left out of the Ashes squad last season, you’d expect him to swiftly return to the national set-up this season. Brian McDermott will have one eye on Super League as he completes his duties as Gold Coast Titans assistant, and the performances of Nsemba the past few weeks must have caught his attention.

Full credit also has to go to his back row partner, Sam Walters, who was equally as successful in nullifying any threat from Jake Connor.

Croft and Connor crumble:

Whilst credit must go to Nsemba and Walters, criticism must come for Leeds’ half-back pair.

After being so fluid over the past month or so, they couldn’t click against the Warriors and it was a game where they needed to step up given how tight it is at the top of the table.

Leeds’ pack did what they could, but the spine players couldn’t find the answers in what was a disappointing performance from the playmaking pair.