Wolves rip Reds to shreds

Warrington crushed Salford 68-16 to go top of the engage Super League table.

The Wolves ran in 12 tries to overhaul Wigan at the top, with a thrilling display of attacking rugby that lit up Magic Weekend at Murrayfield.

Veteran stand-off Lee Briers scored his 100th career try, one of 12 Wolves tries as Tony Smith's men emphasised their genuine title credentials.

Richie Myler touched down twice against his former club, while Chris Hicks also grabbed a double and Chris Riley went joint top of the leading scorers' chart with his 15th of the campaign.

Ben Westwood kicked six goals from eight attempts as the ruthless Wolves gave the lacklustre Reds little respite.

Warrington went into the game knowing victory by 25 clear points would take them above the Warriors and they made early inroads.

They went ahead within two minutes, Michael Monaghan shooting out of acting half, throwing a dummy and scampering over.

It was a sign of things to come and just five minutes later Hicks jumped highest to claim a Briers kick and score his first.

Ominous

It was looking ominous for the Reds, but they briefly managed to stem the tide by piecing together a couple of good moves.

They pulled a try back after 11 minutes after Ashley Gibson and Stefan Ratchford carried the ball upfield.

Play moved across the pitch and back again before Daniel Holdsworth set up Ratchford with a superb long pass out wide.

Holdsworth landed the difficult conversion but Salford were quickly hit by three tries in the space of eight minutes which as good as settled the contest.

Briers was again involved in a sweeping passing move that ended with Hicks grabbing his second, and 10th of the season, out wide.

Myler then put Ryan Atkins in with a delicate kick before the centre turned provider to break through several tackles and put Rhys Williams in to mark his full debut with a maiden try.

Yet Salford showed flashes of quality and claimed a second converted try courtesy of a fine individual effort from Matty Smith.

Normal service

Normal service was soon resumed, however, as Riley dived over on the stroke of half-time.

The one-way traffic continued after the break as Briers kicked through and Vinnie Anderson was first to react.

Myler then made amends for an earlier fumble with the line in sight as he ran under the posts from a Chris Bridge offload. With Westwood off the field, Briers added the extras.

Bridge, who also kicked three goals, got in on the act just after the hour and Myler broke through for his second moments later.

David Solomona wrapped up a good day for Warrington late on, but Salford at least had the final word with a last-minute Ratchford consolation.