Wigan 54-6 Harlequins
Last updated on .From the section Rugby League
Pat Richards scored 26 points in Wigan's 54-6 demolition of Harlequins.
Last season's Man of Steel went over in the first half, as did Thomas Leuluai (2), Ryan Hoffman, George Carmont, Sam Tomkins and Sean O'Loughlin.
Richards converted all seven tries, all of them inside the first half hour, as Wigan led 42-0 at half-time.
Tomkins added his second try after the break, Mark Calderwood finally getting Quins on the board before Richards ran in a last-minute try.
It was the second game in succession that Wigan have passed the half century mark following last week's 52-0 victory over Barrow in the Challenge Cup.
Their third straight home win seems to have put to bed their indifferent form in front of their own supporters, following the run of seven home defeats in 11 from last July to beating St Helens on Good Friday.
It also made amends for last year's shock home defeat by the Londoners.
Quins, who were then bottom of Super League, pulled off a surprise 38-26 victory over the champions elect.
But, this time, Quins had not even had the ball in hand when Richards went over in the third minute on the left wing, shortly followed by a close-range try from Hoffman.
Carmon then ran in a third try after he intercepted Luke Gale's pass just inside the Quins half in the 11th minute and Tomkins quickly added a fourth under the posts.
Quins were regularly making errors and Leuluai punished another, jinking through to reach over before the Warriors scrum-half then spotted another gap to charge over from 15 metres soon after.
Hoffman made a break on halfway to set up captain O'Loughlin to go over for a totally one-sided 42-0 half-time lead.
The visitors enjoyed more possession after the break but they posed little threat and it was no surprise when Tomkins touched down for his second try of the night.
Quins finally found a way on to the scoreboard when Gale recovered Karl Pryce's wayward pass to send Calderwood over.
But there was still time for Richards to have the last word as he charged over in the closing moments, the big Aussie kicking his ninth successful conversion out of nine.
POST-MATCH REACTION
Wigan coach Michael Maguire:
"The boys got through their sets, got down the other end and applied a lot of pressure.
"In the first half we completed 93%, which gave us good field position and allowed us to score some entertaining tries.
"In the second half we dropped off a bit so we've got some things to work on to make sure we're perfect when we get to Bradford next week."
Harlequins coach Rob Powell:
"The players weren't ready to play and I take full responsibility for that. I'm not going to blame the players.
"There was nothing massively different but there must have been something wrong in our preparation because we didn't get out of the blocks and couldn't get back into it.
"But we didn't concede a try for nearly half an hour - between the 27th and the 53rd minute - and we matched them for most of the second half, so that gives us something to build on."
TEAMS
Wigan: S Tomkins; Charnley, J Tomkins, Carmont, Richards; Finch, Leuluai; Coley, McIlorum, Mossop, Farrell, Hoffman, O'Loughlin.
Replacements: Lima, Deacon, Hughes, Tuson.
Harlequins RL: O'Callaghan; Melling, Pryce, Clubb, Calderwood; Gale, Randall; Ward, Ellis, Ambler, Bailey, Koupartisas, Wilkes.
Replacements: Temata, Burnett, Krasniqi, Mitchell.
Attendance: 12,813
Referee: James Child (Dewsbury).
