Hull KR captain Shaun Kenny-Dowall ran in three tries, with Ryan Hall and Kane Linnett crossing for the hosts as well; Wigan hit back with scores from Liam Marshall, Jake Wardle, Jai Field and Kai Pearce-Paul, but Harry Smith's missed conversions did not help
Saturday 18 February 2023 17:19, UK
Shaun Kenny-Dowall stormed over for a hat-trick as Hull Kingston Rovers began the new Betfred Super League season in stirring fashion with a 27-18 win over Wigan Warriors at Sewell Group Craven Park.
The Robins captain shattered any chance of a Wigan recovery when he finished off a slick move out left in the dying minutes to ensure the home side would capitalise on a lacklustre Wigan display.
Hit by a yellow card for Morgan Smithies for a late tackle midway through the second half, Matt Peet's men faded after a bright start and were hampered by Harry Smith's failure to kick all but one of four conversions.
It took just three minutes for the reign of new Hull KR head coach Willie Peters, who played for Wigan in their 2000 Grand Final loss to St Helens, to get off to the best of starts when Ryan Hall went over in the left corner.
Wigan, featuring their two new centres Toby King and Jake Wardle, responded with a strong spell in which Liam Marshall chased down a chip from Smith to notch their opener, then Jai Field raced onto Cade Cust's kick to put the visitors in front.
More pressure told midway through the first period when Kai Pearce-Paul dropped onto Cust's clever grubber, but Smith was having an off-day with the boot and his third consecutive missed conversion meant Wigan sat only one score in front at 12-6.
Rovers rallied and were level on the half-hour mark after Kenny-Dowall sold the Warriors defence a delicious dummy after a pass from Lachlan Coote, and instead of feeding Ryan Hall out wide, wriggled over the line himself.
Full-back Coote kicked the hosts level and Jordan Abdull's drop-goal on the half-time hooter gave his side a one-point lead which they would go on to extend in a stirring second period, despite Hall's failure to reappear after the break.
Kane Linnett burrowed over from dummy-half then Coote kicked his side seven points clear after Wigan were penalised for a dangerous tackle on Mikey Lewis inside their own 20.
The day got worse for Wigan, when Smithies was sin-binned for a late barge on Lewis, and Rovers exploited their advantage when the irrepressible Kenny-Dowall went over after swift work from James Batchelor.
Wigan finally got out of their own half through a quick counter from Cust down the left, feeding Wardle to cross on his competitive debut, and Smith belatedly found his range to reduce the deficit to 23-18.
But just when Wigan threatened a late twist, Rovers responded with a series of sharply-executed passes out to the left where Kenny-Dowall crossed for his third and to effectively seal his side's impressive start to the new campaign.
Hull Kingston Rovers head coach Willie Peters:
"The big thing for our club is the lack of belief that we can really do something, which has really held us back over a few years. It's probably why we haven't won a Super League title and been in Grand Finals. We need to win more games like this so we can start building that belief.
"I'm not going to get carried away. It's Round 1 and we've got another game in five days. I know things can change pretty quickly and we'll keep our feet on the ground, but I'm delighted with the result."
Wigan Warriors head coach Matt Peet:
"I thought we were second best. Games are won on physicality and energy and I thought they had it covered, which is a shame, but we'll have to learn quickly this week.
"KR had a good defence, we bounced off too many tackles and the ruck got really quick, and off the back of that some of our defence wasn't what it needs to be. With the ball we probably overplayed our hands at times. We do encourage our lads to express ourselves but sometimes we overdid it."
Hull KR are back in action live on Sky Sports on Thursday when they travel to Salford Red Devils, who opened with a 20-10 over Leigh Leopards. Wigan welcome a Wakefield Trinity side aiming to rebound from a 38-24 defeat to Catalans Dragons to the DW Stadium the following night (both 8pm).
