Challenge Cup: Hull KR 14-46 Wigan Warriors
- Published
Sam Tomkins' four tries helped Wigan into the last eight of the Challenge Cup at the expense of Hull KR.
David Hodgson's unconverted try gave Rovers an early lead before Tomkins began to assert his authority.
The full-back twice crossed to leave Wigan 12-4 up at the break, before Pat Richards put him through for his third.
Richards, Josh Charnley, Iain Thornley, Liam Farrell and a fourth from Tomkins then added gloss to the result despite Craig Hall's two tries for KR.
Tomkins' virtuoso performance meant Wigan progressed to the quarter-finals with relative ease, which looked unlikely when Hodgson crossed for the hosts after just three minutes.
Both sides fought hard for the next half an hour, but Tomkins' quality pulled his side back into the match, side-stepping two for his first before finishing his own grubber-kick to make it 12-4 at half time.
Straight after the restart, Richards broke through the middle and laid on Tomkins for his hat-trick before Tomkins returned the favour with a kick for the Australian winger, who converted seven tries on the day.
The match was effectively ended as a contest by Charnley's converted try in the corner to make it 28-4 after 50 minutes, before Thornley showed Omari Caro a clean pair of heels down the left to go over.
Hall's converted try got Rovers into double figures, but Farrell crossed for Warriors before Tomkins completed his masterclass, getting onto the end of his own kick for his 26th try of the season.
Hall crossed again with a minute to go, missing the conversion, as the Robins fell victim to a wonderful display by Tomkins.
VIEWS FROM THE DRESSING ROOM
Hull KR head coach Craig Sandercock:
"It was really disappointing as we bombed a couple of dead-set tries.
"We deserved to be in the lead by more than four but you can't do that against really good sides like Wigan. We needed to take our opportunities and didn't.
"I was really disappointed with that."
Wigan Warriors head coach Shaun Wane:
"We're another round down and will be going all out to get to Wembley ourselves. It's been a great weekend for Wigan."
On Cory Paterson's hit on Blake Green: "It was shocking, Blake is in a bad way. He was knocked unconscious and damaged his ankle on the way down.
"You can't give your opinion of what happened, you can't be honest. I give up and can't say what I want to say.
"It was obvious the plan was to disrupt us and that's makes it a more satisfying win. We showed guts and determination and that's as good a win as we've had since I've been here."
LINE-UPS
Hull KR: Eden, Caro, Salter, Hall, D Hodgson, Burns, Dobson, Paea, J Hodgson, Walker, Horne, Paterson, Lovegrove
Replacements: Withers, Mika, Beaumont, Griffin.
Wigan: S Tomkins, Charnley, Goulding, Thornley, Richards, Green, Powell, Flower, McIlorum, Crosby, Hansen, Farrell, O'Loughlin.
Replacements: Hughes, Lauaki, Taylor, L Tomkins.
Referee: Richard Silverwood
- Published5 May 2013
- Published3 May 2013