Warriors win against Toulouse

• Match Report as Wigan Warriors win against Toulouse Olympique at the DW Stadium.
• Bevan French registered a hat-trick with Cade Cust also going over for a double as Wigan scored nine.
• FT | Wigan Warriors 52-6 Toulouse Olympique.

Bevan French ran in a hat-trick as Wigan hit Toulouse for nine on Friday evening.

French opened the scoring after just four minutes before Cade Cust crashed over. Harry Smith exteneded the lead before Jake Bibby flew in on the half time hooter for 24-0.

French continued his frenzy in the second half as he scored two in three minutes to complete his hat-trick, before Kai Pearce-Paul got in on the act. Cade Cust grabbed his second of the evening before Liam Farrell rounded off proceedings in the 52-6 win.

Report

Wigan opened the scoring early on, as the ball came to Bevan French on the right wing he chipped a ball through to collect himself and race towards the sticks to get the first points of the game. Harry Smith converted and it was 6-0 after 5 minutes.

Cade Cust doubled the lead shortly afterwards, selling a dummy to get away from the Toulouse defence and go over for the score, Smith made it two from two on conversions for 12-0. Abbas Miski almost made it three on 20 minutes as he held onto a pass well on the wing but good defence from Paul Marcon forced Miski into touch before he could ground the ball.

Harry Smith added the third of the evening as he skipped onto a ball from Kaide Ellis to race away and dive under the posts, he converted his own effort for 18-0. Jake Bibby made it 24-0 on the stroke of half time as he collected a difficult pass to break the line and go over, Harry Smith added the extras.

From the restart, French was on form again. Jai Field darted through the line and with Bevan French in support he got the pass away to the Warriors number 1. Three minutes later and French completed his hat-trick as he collected a stray pass and raced 70m to extend the lead further, with Smith missing the conversion attempt it was 34-0.

Kai Pearce-Paul made it forty after latching onto a tempting kick over the top from Cade Cust to peel away from the Toulouse defence and get the ball down, Harry Smith added the two for 40-0.

Toulouse got on the board just after the hour mark as an overlap allowed Matty Russell to break away on the left edge to crash over, from the touchline Hankinson added the extras to reduce the score to 40-6.

Wigan kept the ball alive going into the last ten minutes and it reaped it’s rewards as the ball came to Cade Cust who wriggled his way towards the line, with Harry Smith adding the two. Liam Farrell rounded off the evening with a great run through the centre of the field, Smith converted an eighth effort to see the game finish 52-6.

Gallery:

Wigan Warriors: Jai Field, Bevan French, Jake Bibby, Kai Pearce-Paul, Abbas Miski, Cade Cust, Harry Smith, Brad Singleton, Brad O’Neill, Liam Byrne, Liam Farrell, John Bateman, Oliver Partington.

Interchange: Patrick Mago, Kaide Ellis, Joe Shorrocks, James McDonnell.

Tries: French (4′, 45′, 48′), Cust (9′, 73′), Smith (27′), Bibby (40′), Pearce-Paul (57′), Farrell (76′)

Goals: Smith 8/9

Toulouse Olympique: Chris Hankinson, Paul Marcon, Mathieu Jussaume, Guy Armitage, Matty Russell, Lucas Albert, Tony Gigot, Romain Navarrete, Nathan Peats, Daniel Alvaro, Hugo Pezet, Maxime Stefani, Anthony Marion.

Interchange: Eloi Pelissier, Maxime Puech, Lambert Belmas, James Cunningham.

Tries: Russell (63′)

Goals: Hankinson 1/1

Referee: Tom Grant

Attendance: 12,145