Harlequins (0) 12 Tries: O'Callaghan, Jones-Bishop Goals: Orr 2 Wigan (8) 36 Tries: Tomkins, Goulding, McIlorum, Richards 2, Farrell Goals: Richards 6
 Jones-Bishop suffered his fractured skull in the 38-26 win at Wigan in April |
Leaders Wigan got their show back on the road as they avenged their shock home defeat by Harlequins in April. Pat Richards ran in two tries to go top of the Super League scorers list on 20 for the season, also kicking six goals. Sam Tomkins marked his switch to full-back with the first try, while Darrell Goulding, Michael McIlorum and Liam Farrell also crossed for the visitors. But, despite a try on his return from a fractured skull, Quins full-back Ben Jones-Bishop ended on the losing side. Jones-Bishop, who sustained his injury thanks to an accidental boot in that stunner of a 38-26 win at the DW Stadium two months ago, scored the second of two tries in eight second-half minutes that gave Quins brief hope of a comeback. But Wigan ran in three of their six tries in the final 13 minutes to stretch their lead back to four points - and wipe away the pain of last Sunday's 24-26 home derby defeat by local rivals St Helens. In searing heat, it was perhaps that the first half was such a low-scoring affair. Wigan struck after just seven minutes when scrum-half Thomas Leuluai spread the ball wide, finding Tomkins, who showed neat footwork as he joined the line to jink inside a couple of tackles and tear over. Richard added the goals, but the only other score of the half was a penalty for the Aussie points machine on 27 minutes. Luke Dorn was close to breaking the line, only to be downed by a cynical Tomkins tackle which earned a severe ticking off from referee Steve Ganson. But it was Tomkins' brother Joel who got into worse trouble right on the half-time hooter when he was sin-binned after a push and shove on the halfway line. Not only did Quins fail to take advantage, it was 12-man Wigan who scored again eight minutes into the second half when winger Goulding stole a loose pass and raced the length of the field to touch down under the posts for his 18th try of the campaign. But, just when Wigan were back to full strength, Jamie O'Callaghan scored Quins' first try, racing to the line after a loose kick was charged down on halfway. After coming from 24-6 down at half-time to win at the DW Stadium in April, any thoughts of another famous Quins comeback were quickly dashed when Wigan claimed their third try, McIlorum rounding off a fine move involving Stuart Fielden and the recalled Paul Deacon. But the hosts bounced back again when Jones-Bishop beat Tomkins to O'Callaghan's neat kick before Wigan finally produced their hottest stuff at the end. Richards scorched down the wing, kicked ahead and won the race to touch down on 67 minutes. And, within three minutes, he had added another, claiming a high kick as a ragged Quins defence stood watching. And the Aussie not only converted that but loose forward Farrell's cake-icing try two minutes from time for a 20-point individual haul.
Harlequins coach Brian McDermott said: "We had enough possession but we were not quite good enough to turn that into points when we were close to their line. "There is no point us getting into arm-wrestles with teams as we will never win those, we have to throw the ball around. Sometimes that works and sometimes it doesn't. "But I am pretty sure the fans would rather see us come off the field having lost by giving it a go, rather than some of the stuff we produced earlier in the season." Wigan coach Michael Maguire said: "Pat Richards is the type of player that you are really glad to have in your team. He probably does not get enough credit for what he does out on the field. "He scores the points and keeps things ticking over. There are a lot of things that he does very well but he is not flashy so does not get all the headlines. But he is a very important part of what we are doing."
Harlequins: Jones-Bishop, O'Callaghan, Clubb, Howell, Sharp, Dorn, Randall, Ward, Orr, Temata, Wilkes, Purdham, Bryan. Replacements: McCarthy-Scarsbrook, Bolger, Mills, Ellis. Wigan: S Tomkins, Goulding, Gleeson, Carmont, Richards, Deacon, Leuluai, Fielden, McIlorum, Prescott, Tuson, J Tomkins, Farrell. Replacements: Riddell, Bailey, Mossop, Davies. Referee: Steve Ganson (St Helens).
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