Wigan 74 SM Pia 4
Coach Brian Noble praised the professionalism of his side after watching Wigan ease into the fifth round of the Carnegie Challenge Cup with a comfortable victory over French outfit SM Pia XIII.
The part-timers were never going to repeat the exploits of the Catalans Dragons, who won at the JJB Stadium in the engage Super League last weekend, as the Warriors were too big, too strong and too professional for their plucky but outclassed opponents.
Hat-trick heroes Mark Calderwood and Liam Colbon led the way as the home side amassed 14 tries in all, with Iafeta Paleaaesina grabbing his first two tries of the campaign and Lee Mossop also crossing the whitewash on his first-team debut.
However, the biggest cheer of the afternoon came after 23 minutes when centre Mahmoud Djalout notched Pia's only try, which their effort and enthusiasm thoroughly merited.
"It was a professional job because these kind of games can be very difficult," Noble admitted.
"We didn't know what to expect so you name as strong a team as you can and we were just too strong and too physical."
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