Wigan Warriors scored eight tries in a 48-24 rout of Warrington Wolves in an historic Super League game at the Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas.
With over 50,000 fans set to pack into the event as the NRL, Super League and international women’s rugby league combined, it was Warrington and Wigan who got the party started, but the Warriors were having all the fun, tries from Tyler Dupree, Abbas Miski, Bevan French and Harry Smith, plus four conversions from Adam Keighran, giving them a dominant 24-0 lead at half-time.
Wigan picked up in the second half where they had left off in the first, silky tries from Jai Field, Jake Wardle, Luke Thompson and Liam Marshall cementing their advantage as Keighran’s brilliance with the boot continued.
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Jai Field goes over after a great run by Liam Marshall to score Wigan Warriors’ fifth try
Warrington enjoyed a late purple patch and managed to hit back with consolation tries from Arron Lindop, James Harrison and Matt Dufty, plus a sensational final-moment 100-metre effort from Matty Ashton, but it was too little too late for Sam Burgess’ side who were left licking their wounds on the world stage.
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Matty Ashton goes the length of the pitch to bring an end to an epic night in Las Vegas
Wigan show ruthless attack as Warrington leave Vegas with questions to answer
Wigan and Warrington were in Las Vegas to make history for Super League and, in the opening quarter, it looked a close contest with both sides suffering a try chalked off as Toby King and Marshall were denied.
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Toby King sees his opening try attempt disallowed for Warrington Wolves
However, from then on it was all Wigan, and Dupree made an immediate impact from the bench, writing his own script as a nephew of Super Bowl winner Billy Joe Dupree (Dallas Cowboys in 1978) as he opened the scoring in Las Vegas in the 17th minute.
That kickstarted Wigan’s surge which allowed Miski to show some acrobatic skill in the corner before Junior Nsemba continued to cause havoc with his huge runs, feeding French as Wigan moved 18-0 up with just 10 minutes remaining of the first 40.
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Abbas Miski leaps to claim Wigan’s second try
With the backing of their loud fans, Wigan were not done just yet and Smith rounded off their first-half scoring as he finished off a silky French pass, Keighran converting once again as Warrington went in needing to regroup very quickly.
The lethal combination of Field and French then came to the fore in the second half, the former going over in the 45th minute after combining with Marshall before French broke through, fed his full-back and sent Wardle over in the corner.
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Jake Wardle put the finishing touch on a fantastic team try from Wigan
Just a couple of minutes later, it was Thompson who barrelled over after a brilliant French pass, cementing a 42-0 lead for the Warriors.
With the game gone, Warrington then found their moment as Harrison and Dufty scored in quick succession but their joy was quickly ended as Marshall finally notched his try as he raced over in the corner on the 77th minute.
The game then ended with a sensational full-length intercept from Ashton – the Wolves winger even losing his boot in the process – but, despite the dazzling end from Warrington, it was Wigan’s night on the big Las Vegas stage.
Sky Sports will again show every game of the Super League live this season – including two matches in each round exclusively live, with the remaining four matches each week shown on Sky Sports+
