Wildcats Stoop to conquer

Wakefield made a winning start to Super League XV with an 18-10 triumph over Harlequins at the Twickenham Stoop.

The Wildcats grabbed three tries to their opponents' two to come out on top of a penalty-strewn match that saw both sides finish with 12 men.

Quins' Louie McCarthy-Scarsbrook and Richard Moore of Wakefield were given their marching orders in the closing minutes as tempers flared.

The brandishing of the red card twice concluded a busy afternoon for referee Ian Smith, though there was the odd moment of excellent rugby in a game moved forward from round three due to the hosts' friendly against Melbourne.

Powerful pack

With a powerful pack, including new faces Shane Tronc and Glenn Morrison, Wakefield dominated the opening 15 minutes of the contest.

Their pressure eventually paid off when another debutant, centre Daryl Millard, jumped above Chris Melling to reel in Danny Brough's towering kick.

Quins, though, responded with a try from their first real attack, a well-crafted move involving Chad Randall and Luke Gale eventually being finished off by Ben Jones-Bishop.

With Danny Orr unable to add the conversion, Wakefield seemed set to hold a slender two-point lead at the break - only for Aaron Murphy to produce a moment of magic that helped push the Wildcats further ahead.

The centre gathered a routine kick and then set off on a weaving run through the defence. Rather than go it alone himself, he opted to pass to Ben Jeffries, who crossed close enough to the posts to leave Brough a simple conversion.

It took Quins just five minutes into the second half to find a reply, though, full-back Jones-Bishop - a loan signing from Leeds - getting his second.

Clincher

However, a third Wakefield try after 56 minutes proved to be enough to clinch the points for John Kear's side.

Having been provider earlier in the afternoon for Jeffries' scorer, Murphy was the scorer this time around, as he barged his way over from close range. His effort was no more than Wakefield deserved after they had regularly attacked the line, only for some desperate defending to keep them out.

Brough added the extras but was off target with a penalty attempt as the game became more ragged as time slipped away.

Quins did their best to try and strike late but the only blow they landed was from McCarthy-Scarsbrook. The prop was sent off with three minutes to play along with Moore after the pair were involved in a scuffle at a scrum.