Wigan continued their recent dominance over St Helens to inflict more misery over their greatest rivals courtesy of a thrilling Good Friday triumph on the day they announced the surprise signing of the rugby union winger Christian Wade.
Rugby league’s biggest derby has been dominated by the Warriors of late. The days of St Helens’ four straight league titles between 2019 and 2022 feel like a long time ago now, with this Wigan’s seventh win in the last eight meetings between the teams. Matt Peet’s side were once again superior here, producing a measured and disciplined display in difficult conditions to defeat the Saints and move up to second in the table, two points shy of the early-season leaders, Hull KR.
There was more good news for Wigan supporters with the announcement that Wade will join the club in the summer when the winger’s commitments with Gloucester conclude. He may have a difficult time breaking into a star-studded Warriors side but he will be relishing the challenge after watching on from the stands here.
Wade has played alongside some magnificent teammates but the prospect of linking up with Jai Field will be particularly enticing. The Australian was the undisputed star here, scoring two sensational tries that ultimately proved to be the difference between the two sides.
Field’s first came as the half-hour approached. With the sides level at 2-2 after one penalty apiece, the full-back latched on to an inch-perfect kick from Bevan French to touch down. Harry Smith’s cross-field kick then caused mayhem in the St Helens defence leading to Abbas Miski crossing in the corner, and while the Saints did have chances to respond, they were far too profligate when it mattered most in the first 40 minutes.
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Hull KR win table-topping derby
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Hull KR will finish the Easter weekend top of the Betfred Super League after withstanding a second-half fightback from 12-man Hull FC to claim a hard-fought 28-14 win.
Less than a fortnight after beating their rivals in the Challenge Cup quarter-final, the Robins made it a double at the MKM Stadium as they bounced back from last week’s first loss of the season to Wigan.
Willie Peters’ side led 16-4 at half-time against a side that were a man down from the 16th minute as a result of Cade Cust’s red card for a reckless and full-force shoulder-to-head charge on Arthur Mourgue. The hosts narrowed the deficit to 16-14 thanks to tries from Tom Briscoe and Jordan Rapana but James Batchelor and Jared Waerea-Hargreaves touched down to give the Robins derby bragging rights.
Not since the early 1980s have the teams occupied the top two spots in the league table and a 21,000 crowd – Hull FC’s highest since the 2009 Good Friday derby – witnessed a breathless encounter.
Rovers’ head coach, Willie Peters, said: “Hull are a very tough team when they’ve got 13 players, but they found another leg when they had 12. They pushed us right to the end and that could have gone either way. “We didn’t really handle the 12 men the way we should. I thought we lost our way a little bit. I’m just happy that last 20 minutes, we found something when we needed to.” PA Media
They were reduced to 12 men when Moses Mbye was sent to the sin-bin before Wigan’s Sam Walters followed him shortly after the restart, but the hosts struck again when Field looped around the back of the Warriors attack to collect a wonderful Harry Smith pass and make it 18-2.
At that stage, it looked as thought the Saints would be heading for a heavy defeat but to their credit, they rallied well. They finally had a try when Lewis Murphy finished superbly in the corner and six minutes later Agnatius Paasi crossed. George Whitby converted both and suddenly the gap was just four.
But with two minutes remaining, and the Saints pushing for a match-winner, an error from Tristan Sailor allowed Wigan to put the result beyond doubt as Miski crossed for his second.
