Warriors slaughter Dragons
Pat Richards scored five tries and kicked nine goals to help Wigan romp to a 58-0 victory over struggling Les Catalans.
Last Updated: 27/02/10 9:22am
Pat Richards enjoyed a night to remember as Wigan maintained their perfect start to the new season with a 58-0 thrashing of struggling Les Catalans.
Winger Richards scored five tries, four of them in the first half, and also kicked nine goals to finish with an amazing personal haul of 38 points.
The Warriors led 36-0 at the break before a George Carmont brace in the second half helped them break through the half-century barrier.
It was certainly a night to forget for the struggling Dragons at the DW Stadium, meaning the French side are still yet to register a Super League point in 2010.
Quick-fire treble
Kevin Walters' troops found themselves 18-0 down after the first quarter, Richards grabbing a quick-fire hat-trick in the space of 11 minutes.
Carmont's neat offload set the Ireland international up for his first, while his second try arrived soon after when he accepted Amos Roberts' pass and crashed over in the left corner.
Another assist from centre Carmont led to Richards completing a rapid treble and he managed another before the interval when he reeled in Sam Tomkins' beautifully-flighted kick out wide.
Darrell Goulding also got in on the act on the opposite wing with Wigan's fifth try, Sean O'Loughlin the creator after he'd scored the fourth himself by getting on the end of Tomkins' neat grubber.
Not surprisingly after such a clinical first 40 minutes, the hosts struggled to find the same kind of potency in attack during the second half.
Their cause was not helped by the loss of loose forward O'Loughlin to injury shortly after the restart.
Carmont double
It took them 17 minutes to breach the Dragons defence again - New Zealander Thomas Leuluai burrowing his way over from close range.
Carmont switched roles from provider to scorer with a pair of tries after the hour mark, the second of which came via an interception.
Richards landed both conversions before fittingly rounding out the scoring with his fifth and Wigan's 10th of the night, his pace taking him clear of the tiring visitors.
He was unable to maintain his 100 percent record with the boot but it was only a minor blemish on an otherwise perfect night for both him and his team.