Wigan warriors blushes spared after major scare against Sheffield

Wigan Warriors suffered a Challenge Cup scare against Championship side Sheffield Eagles, the opponents who famously defeated them in the 1998 final.

There will have likely been bad memories resurfacing for fans of Wigan when the two teams went in even at the half, the Eagles threatening another massive upset as huge underdogs.

Not only are Sheffield a division below the current World champions, they were also facing an incredibly strong Wigan side.

Matt Peet’s team were without Jai Field with Ryan Hampshire stepping in at full-back but they still fielded a very strong side for the occasion, one of the few players brought in being promising forward Junior Nsemba.

Alongside Hampshire the Wigan Warriors spine consisted of Bevan French, Harry Smith and Brad O’Neill whilst all four of Abbas Miski, Adam Keighran, Jake Wardle and Liam Marshall started.

The forward pack was as strong as ever and headlined by Luke Thompson but the Eagles were still able to trouble and worry the Warriors in a game that unfortunately wasn’t televised.

Sheffield stir up a scare for Wigan Warriors

The stiff test that Wigan Warriors had in front of them was apparent from the very start with Mark Aston’s side testing Matt Peet’s men from the get-go.

Jake Wardle thought he had broken the deadlock but was called as held up but not long after it was reigning Man of Steel Bevan French who did cross over.

Harry Smith added the extras and he was called into duty quickly again with Liam Marshall scoring in the corner, Smith unable to add the extras on this occasion.

Matty Marsh then started the scoring for Sheffield after a stray offload from Wigan, before Dawson-Jones then added another to put the Championship side in front.

Harry Smith knocked a penalty over before the halftime hooter to ensure that Wigan didn’t go in behind, with Oliver Roberts sin-binned for the penalty.

Jake Wardle scored almost immediately from the restart before Bevan French then added two more to complete his hat trick before the hour mark.

At that point, it looked like Wigan could run away with it and blow Sheffield away but they hit back through Evan Hodgson to make it 26-18.

A Kruise Leeming score widened the margin to 32-18 and it was at that point the floodgates did open, Wigan tacking on late scores from Patrick Mago and Marshall once again to make it 44-18.

⏱ 𝙁𝙐𝙇𝙇 𝙏𝙄𝙈𝙀 with @heatableUK

Wigan progress to the next round!#WWRL #ChallengeCup pic.twitter.com/yTE4TyDfwj

— Wigan Warriors 🍒⚪️ (@WiganWarriorsRL) March 22, 2024