Hull KR head coach Willie Peters has spoken on the key moment in which his side lost the game against Wigan Warriors.
The Robins lost 28-12 as they fell to their first defeat of the season, however, it was a scoreline that wasn’t overly reflective of the game with two late tries helping to blow the game out.
Having led 12-6 at half-time, the Robins conceded four second-half tries with three of them coming from breaks that Wigan made inside their own half, just as they had done in the first half.
Speaking post-match on Sky Sports, Peters was asked about the ‘hurt’ of having lost the club’s unbeaten record, something he confirmed as he went on to assess the performance and where he felt the game was lost.
“It does (hurt), but I’m proud of the players,” Peters explained, adding: “We weren’t controlled for a long period. The set before they scored, we had an offload and then we got tackled from dummy half which put us on the back foot and they we gave away a six again which we obviously didn’t defend that try.
“I think if we get through that set, then do we stick at it for longer? Possibly yeah, but look it’s fine margins at the moment. They take advantage of their opportunities and that’s probably the difference at the moment.”
Willie Peters highlights moment Hull KR lost the game and gives key injury update
It certainly seemed that Harry Smith try proved a turning point but it also coincided with the clock ticking past one hour with Hull KR appearing to slow down, perhaps as a result of their Challenge Cup game on Saturday whereas Wigan didn’t play.
“I’m not going to use that as an excuse,” Peters responded when that was suggested to him.
“We know that Wigan were going to go for 80. We’re a team that prides ourselves on going for 80 as well. As I said, there’s probably that moment there that I looked at, that sort of change of momentum.
“I think it was 28-12, the scoreline didn’t indicate where the game was but that changed momentum of the game.”
He added: “I don’t think we ran out of steam. I think there were probably some choices that we’d probably do (different) if we had it again. We’d do a little bit better, but we’re not far off.”
With Rivals Round coming up and another game against Hull FC on Good Friday, it’s important for the Robins to fix up their errors and that’s something Peters spoke about.
He said: “We’ll have a good look at it and just see where we’re at because there will be areas there that I looked at that we probably could do better and then I thought we did well that we did to improve. We had full control for a long period in terms of field position and as soon as we get a field position, they take advantage of it. They’re a very good defensive team, they’re hard to break down so yeah they deserve the win tonight.”
Hooker Micky McIlorum left the field after just 20 minutes with a bicep injury, something Peters provided a brief update on, stating: “Knowing Micky it’s not going to be great because he doesn’t come off unless he’s injured so we think it’s torn but we’ll wait and see. He’ll have scans.”
Defending champions Wigan Warriors are back in the race for top spot following a THRILLING 12-28 win against Hull KR, whose unbeaten run comes to an end 🚨 pic.twitter.com/YZJ7kzgAy3
— Sky Sports Rugby League (@SkySportsRL) April 11, 2025
