Wigan Warriors player ratings vs Hull KR as five score 8/10 in pivotal victory

Wigan Warriors have one hand on the League Leaders’ Shield after defeating Hull KR 24-20 at the Brick Community Stadium. The Cherry and Whites scored five tries on the night and all but one of them came while Hull KR had men in the sin-bin as the Robins’ discipline let them down in the biggest game of the season.

After a fiercely competitive start to the game, it was Matt Parcell who opened the scoring as he deceived Kaide Ellis to touch down with a run out of dummy half. Mikey Lewis added four more points as he stepped back against the grain and beat the challenge of Jai Field to ensure Rovers capitalised on their fine start to the contest and a few uncharacteristic errors from the home side.

However, the game turned on its head when Joe Burgess was, somewhat harshly, shown a yellow card for flopping, as Wigan made the most of their numerical advantage. With Burgess in the sin-bin, Abbas Miski squeezed through the narrowest of gaps to touch down in the corner after some smooth play from Bevan French and Jai Field.

Junior Nsemba then touched down for Wigan’s second after some fine work from French to cut back and spot the overload down Hull KR’s right.

With KR at full strength, they managed to add to their lead in the second half as Peta Hiku intercepted a Harry Smith pass to run 80 metres before putting Burgess over the line.

French hit back, though, with a moment of individual magic. After what was a slack pass from Ellis, French took on possession, clipped the ball into the space behind the line and showed the pace required to collect his own kick and touch down. That was before Jai Whitbread was sin-binned for a high shot.

Jai Field made the try Wigan needed to restore parity, with Liam Marshall touching down in the corner and the winger was there to put the Warriors into the lead, too, capitalising on some tremendous play from Patrick Mago and Nsemba and that was enough to send Wigan Warriors back to the top of the Super League table.

Wigan Warriors Player ratings

Jai Field: Stretched his legs with a couple of breaks in the first half and set up Miski’s try. It was his pace that created Marshall’s second half effort. 8

Abbas Miski: Took his try very well in the first half and collected everything he needed to in the air. 6

Adam Keighran: Didn’t see much good ball but made hard yards when required. 6

Jake Wardle: Seemed to be in space constantly and found plenty of joy alongside Field and Marshall down Hull KR’s right. 7

Liam Marshall: Took both tries superbly and found plenty of joy down that weak KR edge. 8

Bevan French: Created the Nsemba try with some smart play before touching down to finish off a remarkable solo effort. 8

Harry Smith: Threw the interception and committed a couple of silly errors in the first half, but showed big game smarts, too. 7

Ethan Havard: Some strong running through the middle. 7

Kruise Leeming: Watched a huge chunk of the match from the bench and probably couldn’t make the impact he have hoped to. 6

Luke Thompson: Played huge minutes from the middle of the park. A massive effort with and without the ball. 8

Junior Nsemba: Touched down in the first but constantly made ground after contact and produced a fierce defensive display. Too big and strong at times. 8

Liam Farrell: Back in the side after injury and took him a while to get going but did everything asked of him. 7

Kaide Ellis: Beaten too easily for Parcell’s try and wasn’t always tidy with the ball but dug deep and played big minutes. 6

Liam Bryne: N/A

Patrick Mago: Made a big impact off the bench. Instrumental in Marshall’s second. 7

Tyler Dupree: A strong effort through the middle of the park. 6

Tom Forber: Played big minutes in the hooker role. Showed elements of inexperience but looked lively too. 6