Wigan U 12's get off to a flying start!

Wigan U 12's got off to a flying start with a convincing victory over local rivals Leigh at a sun drenched Douglas Valley.

With a couple of new faces joining the team this season in the guise of Tom, Corey and Oliver and two relative new comers in Max and Nico - Wigan were able to field a team that, over the 40 minutes, proved too strong for our visitors.

The coaches took the tough decision to shuffle the pack from last season - with Eli moving to the wing and Will to outside centre to accommodate new recruit Oliver. These decisions were contested fiersley by some and this maybe lead to Wigan getting off to a shaky start and after the opening 5 minutes, Wigan looked like they were going to be in for a torrid time - as a much larger Leigh team dominated the scrum and breakdown and deservedly took the lead when they crossed in the corner.

This try though seamed to shake the cobwebs from the Wigan team and slick handling across the back line, justifying the coaches selection, brought Wigan within a few meters of the Leigh line. A quick dart by Joss from the breakdown opened up the Leigh blindside and a smart pass to Eli and then onto Harry B - saw Harry reach over for Wigan's first try of the match.

Leigh continued to dominate the breakdown however and it was only thanks to some strong tackling by the impressive Kyle, Jacob, Max and Louis that Wigan remained in touch. Leigh were then caught out again by a slick handling from Wigan and try maker Eli became try scorer as the flying, jinking winger crossed the white wash to put Wigan in charge with 15minutes on the clock.

Christian then got in on the act and with his new found aggression he bust 40 yards, straight down the middle for an excellent individual try - hopefully the first of many for the rampaging prop this season. Harry cooly converted all three trys to make the half time score 21-7 to the home team, a score that, to be fair flattered a Wigan side that was being totally dominated in the forwards.

A firm and frank half time hairdryer by coach Morgy seemed to fire up the Wigan forwards and gradually they started to become more competitive in the middle - with Kyle leading the way and Max and Jacob working tirelessly to prevent Leigh regaining a foothold in the game.

It was the backs however that continued to show their class and more slick handling with the ball flowing from Joss at scrum half, through Harry, Oliver and Will across the line to the Eli on the wing before he floated a superb pass to the the impressive Mac who raced away for the try of the match. Two more quick tries by Kyle and Joss all converted by Harry gave Wigan an unassailable lead. Leigh did not let their heads drop though and hit back with another strong try - this time with their ever impressive scrum half capitalising on his strong forwards pressure.

A final try by debutant Corey ensured that Wigan finished on a high with a slightly flattering 49-14 victory.

Special mention must go to all the debutants - Oliver shored up the centre with a dominant handling and tackling display, Tom gave the team solidity on the wing and put in a great shift in defence and Corey showed signs of what is to come when the new recruit starts to get to grips with the technical side of the forwards play.

Man of the Match however deservedly went to Kyle - who dominated the game in both attack and defence.

All in all not a bad start to the season for Wigan (but a clear message needs to be taken from this that the forwards need to be more competitive at the breakdown - if the season is to be as successful as the last)