Warriors Magic wins over St Helens
Ahead of saturday’s clash against St Helens at Elland Road, we take a look back at our previous Magic weekend victories against our local rivals.
The latest instalment of the derby will be the sixth Magic Weekend meeting between the sides whilst Leeds will become the fifth city alongside Cardiff, Edinburgh, Manchester and Newcastle to host the fixture since its launch in 2007.
The Warriors will be hoping to add to Magic Weekend victories in Edinburgh and Manchester when they face St Helens in the second of three Betfred Super League matches to be played on Saturday.
In the build up to the clash, we’ve looked back on our Magic Weekend victories against St Helens:
Wigan Warriors 38-18 St Helens, Murrayfield Stadium, 2009.
The Warriors recorded their biggest derby win in six years and a first over St Helens at Magic Weekend with a dominant display in the Scottish capital.
Sean O’Loughlin opened the scoring after seven minutes at Murrayfield before the Warriors captain turned provider with a pinpoint kick to Pat Richards who grounded in the corner.
Gareth Hock powered through the opposition defence to score a third Warriors try, and despite a Sean Long try cutting the points difference, Joel Tomkins hit a gap perfectly before accelerating over to put Wigan 24-6 ahead at the break.
A blistering start to the second half saw the Warriors extend their lead to 32-6 when a break down the wing saw Thomas Leuluai slide over minutes after Richards had kicked two points from the tee.
Tries from Leon Pryce and Paul Wellens saw St Helens hit the score back to 32-18, however, Richards scored his second try before the end as he maintained his perfect kicking record for a personal haul of 22 points.
Wigan Warriors 42-16 St Helens, Etihad Stadium, 2012.
A lightning Wigan start saw Sam Tomkins slide over between the sticks after six minutes before Hock broke through two St Helens defenders to widen the lead soon after.
Neat play on the last tackle saw Josh Charnley score in the corner before a moment of magic from Tomkins saw the fullback break from halfway to cross for his second mid-way through the half.
A fifth Warriors try was added when O’Loughlin combined with Anthony Gelling on the right edge, although St Helens momentarily cut the points difference to 26-6 when Paul Clough crashed over from close range.
Wigan struck once more before the break when Charnley collected Gelling’s kick to ground his second with the last attack of the half.
George Carmont widened the points difference at the start of the second half with a fantastic solo score after racing clear from his own 30m line, before an incident at a scrum resulted in red cards for Wigan’s Hock and Chris Tuson as well as St Helens’ Shaun Magennis on 52 minutes.
Louie McCarthy-Scarsbrook crossed for St Helens’ second try of the afternoon before Charnley, who added two points from the tee, released Liam Farrell on his inside for an eighth Wigan try.
Despite Wellens diving over in the corner for the final points of the match, a 42-16 victory took the Warriors to the top of the Super League table.
Watch full match highlights from both wins on Wigan TV HERE.
The Warriors take on St Helens at Leeds’ Elland Road in the Betfred Super League Magic Weekend this Saturday. Tickets remain on sale HERE.
