SUPER League’s Super 8s kicked off on Thursday, when Wigan and Huddersfield met at the home of the Warriors.

Two early tries from Jermaine McGilvary put the visitors 10-0 ahead. But the home side came back strongly in the second half with tries from Dom Manfredi, George Williams, Larne Patrick and Dom Crosby.

Despite tries from Jack Hughes and Eorl Crabtree, the Giants were unable to regain the lead once Wigan went ahead and the game finished Wigan 30, Huddersfield 22.

The next day, Leeds overcame Warrington for the first time this season with a convincing 49-10 victory at Headingley.

Rhinos full-back Zak Hardaker was in scintillating form.

He scored two tries in his side’s win, one of which could go down as a try of the season contender as he weaved around and sidestepped several defenders on his way to the line.

Encouraging performances from Kevin Penny and debutant Chris Sandow are the only things Warrington could take from an otherwise miserable defeat and they now find themselves 11 points behind the league leaders.

Perhaps the most entertaining and keenly contested game in this round took place at The Jungle, where Castleford beat Hull FC by 36 points to 30.

The Tigers’ performance was a memorable one thanks to four tries from centre Michael Shenton — his first two cancelling out the pair of four-pointers Hull had scored in the first five minutes — and his third coming shortly after. It took him less than 15 minutes to bag a hat-trick.

Hull still managed to go in 18-16 up at half time but Castleford secured the win in the second half as Shenton crossed for his fourth and Luke Gale and Ashley Gibson both crossed for tries in the final quarter of the game.

The other game in the Super League section of the Super 8s took place in the south of France.

Catalans had sneaked into eighth place in the regular season but this didn’t deter them as they defeated second place St Helens by 26 points to 16.

Twelve of the Dragons’ points came from the boot of man-of-the-match Scott Dureau, who converted all three of his team’s tries, and kicked three penalties.

It was a frustrating afternoon for St Helens but for Catalans the win means they still have a small chance of finishing in one of the top four play-off places, reducing the gap between themselves and Huddersfield to 6 points.