WARRINGTON were given a lesson in Super 8s rugby on Friday night, when Wigan travelled to the home of the Wolves in the third round.

The Warriors, who weren’t quite in top gear themselves, managed to secure an impressive 28-0 win in a scrappy game and left Warrington scoreless at home for the first time since they moved to their current stadium from Wilderspool in 2003.

Matty Bowen controlled the game throughout and was ably assisted by 20-year-old George Williams, who also contributed in defence with an impressive 31 tackles from his stand-off position.

The defeat ends any hopes Warrington had of a top-four finish but Wigan will be hoping they can build on this performance as the season approaches the final stages.

Their coach Shaun Wane said: “I’ve just told the players that the way we attacked and the composure we had with the ball in those conditions set the benchmark for us.”

Elsewhere, Leeds managed to maintain their lead at the top of the table with a 36-22 win at Hull FC, while Huddersfield’s 28-22 win at St Helens on Thursday opened up the race for the top four.

Three teams are now vying for two top-four places: the Giants, Saints and the Castleford Tigers but the latter failed to take advantage of St Helens’s loss when they were defeated 44-26 by Catalans Dragons in France.

“If you don’t get a good start here then it is always tough. I still thought we could win at half-time,” Cas coach Daryl Powell said.

“It was obviously tough for both sides today with them having a man sent off and us losing players through injuries.

“We had such a poor start and had too many people off [the pace]. Catalans were excellent and fully deserved to be 20-0 in front before we even looked like scoring.”

In the qualifiers, Leigh almost managed to cause the first Championship upset but they were narrowly beaten 17-16 by the Wakefield Wildcats on Saturday.

A day later, however, Bradford Bulls managed to triumph over Super League opposition, picking up a convincing 41-10 win at home to Salford on Sunday. Jake Mullaney, filling in at scrum-half, scored two tries for the Bulls against his former club, in a win which gives Championship sides hope for the remainder of the competition.