Wigan crush Whitehaven
Wigan ran in 18 tries during a 106-8 victory over Whitehaven in the last 16 of the Carnegie Challenge Cup.
Last Updated: 12/05/08 10:03pm
Sam Tomkins marked his senior debut with five tries as Wigan claimed a 106-8 victory over Whitehaven in the last 16 of the Carnegie Challenge Cup.
The Warriors' reward is a trip to Headingley to take on Leeds Rhinos in the quarter-finals.
Tomkins, the younger brother of Wigan second row Joel, claimed a hat-trick within the first 12 minutes, and added another two after the break.
Trent Barrett also bagged a hat-trick, while there were braces for Iafeta Paleaaesina, Harrison Hansen and Mark Calderwood as Wigan ran in a total of 18 tries against their National League One opponents.
Pat Richards booted 17 goals and notched the 16th of the Warriors' tries in a personal tally of 38 points, while Ade Adebisi and Rob Jackson responded for the plucky, but outclassed, visitors.
Paleaaesina burst through the middle and took full-back Gary Broadbent over the line with him for the opening score on two minutes, before Tomkins began an incredible scoring spree with three tries in the next 10 minutes.
First he finished off a fine break by Liam Colbon, then he took a return pass from Gareth Hock to go in under the posts for his second. The hat-trick was completed with a smart finish after Sean O'Loughlin released him from 10 yards out.
Barrett crossed for the fifth try of the night after 14 minutes, before the Australian playmaker turned provider to send skipper O'Loughlin over three minutes later.
The rout continued with hooker Mickey Higham dummying his way over in the next set to put the Warriors 42-0 up with just 20 minutes on the clock.
Brief respite
Whitehaven finally responded by scoring on their first real attack when Carl Rudd kicked behind Colbon and Adebisi won the race to the touch down the bouncing ball.
Normal service was resumed after 32 minutes when Tomkins put Hansen through a gaping hole, Richards again converting, but Whitehaven scored again right on the stroke of half-time when Jackson bundled his way through three tacklers.
But any hopes of a comeback were dashed when the Warriors notched with the first play of he second period. Hansen touching down after picking up a forced offload almost on the line.
Richards converted but missed his first kick of the night two minutes later when a long pass from Barrett presented Calderwood with a simple finish in the corner.
Tomkins was back in the action with his fourth try after 48 minutes from close range, and he then put Barrett over for his second six minutes later.
Barrett and Tomkins then grabbed their third and fifth tries respectively and Calderwood took advantage of some tired defending to add his second with a nice turn of pace.
Richards plucked a high ball out of the skies to notch Wigan's 16th try of the night with five minutes remaining and the century of points was brought up when Richards converted Phil Bailey' try soon after. Paleaaesina rounded off the scoring with the final play of the game.