Tomkins ruins Rae's day

Sam Tomkins: Inspirational full-back claims four tries in Warriors win

Sam Tomkins ran in four tries as Wigan Warriors enjoyed a comfortable 44-6 victory over London Broncos on Tony Rae's return to the dugout.

Tomkins' inspirational performance also included 12 points from the boot as the league leaders bounced back from their Challenge Cup exit last weekend.

For Rea, it was a harsh illustration of the job that lies ahead after he stepped into the Broncos' hotseat earlier this week.

The day started well for Wigan as they could recall Iain Thornley and Matty Smith to their starting line-up, after the pair were cup-tied in last week's defeat to Leeds.

But for the Broncos, all eyes were on Rea, who was flown over from Australia to retake the reins at the Stoop after Rob Powell was relieved of his duties.

The two sides had indulged in a ding-dong battle at the DW Stadium earlier this campaign - a thriller Wigan eventually edged 42-30.

And points were not to be hard to come by this time around either as the scoring got underway after just two minutes whenTomkins exchanged passes with Josh Charnley before scampering over.

And minutes later it was Charnley himself who clocked up the points courtesy of an excellent defence-splitting pass from Darrell Goulding.

Exhibition

By this time Wigan were producing exhibition rugby, with the Broncos defence struggling to stick to the task. It was only the Warriors wastefulness that led to the game remaining as a contest beyond the opening half hour.

But Wigan always looked as though they could go up a gear if needed, and with half-time approaching they finally did so, Tomkins again rounding off a flowing move a minute before the break.

And the Broncos fate was finally sealed shortly after the teams re-emerged, Thornley romping over following another clever pass from Tomkins.

And the full back wasn't finished there, laying on the next score for Smith on 50 minutes after another incisive break.

Hat trick

It was then Tomkins' turn to claim the four-points, completing his hat-trick with 25 minutes still to play.

Brett Finch then got in on the scoring act, cantering through a huge gap in the London defence to touch down under the posts.

And there was further bad news for the hosts when Dan Sarginson was stretchered off with a leg injury. But seconds later the Broncos did have something to cheer when Michael Robertson crossed to put them on the board.

Fittingly, however, it was Tomkins who had the final say, chipping through and gathering his own kick to notch his fourth in the dying stages.