Jai Field’s magical hat-trick leads Wigan to bruising victory over Leeds

Jai Field scored a hat-trick of tries as Wigan made it two wins from two at the start of the Betfred Super League season with a 34-12 win over Leeds. The opening 40 minutes was a bruising affair and Wigan had to come from behind to hold a slender 12-6 lead at the break.

Blake Austin marked his Rhinos debut with a brilliant solo effort to put Leeds up by six but the Warriors were handed a lifeline when Field grabbed the first of his three tries in controversial circumstances. It looked as if the scores would be level at the break but a moment of magic from Field saw him waltz over on the hooter.

Wigan came out in the second half and blitzed the Rhinos. Two Sam Powell tries and a length-of-the-field effort for Field’s hat-trick saw Wigan go from 12-6 up to 28-6. The Rhinos’ Matt Prior and Warriors’ Liam Farrell then traded tries but it was Wigan’s night.

An error from Kai Pearce-Paul put Wigan under pressure deep in their own half early on. Alex Mellor went close before Liam Marshall put a monster hit on Liam Tindall but he was penalised for offside to keep the Yorkshire side camped on Wigan’s line.

They took full advantage of their possession as Austin collected a pass from Aiden Sezer to step his way past some poor defending to grab a try on debut. Sezer converted for a 6-0 lead.

Leeds looked as if they were going to extend their lead as Tindall made a break from his own 20. It appeared he was going to race away to score but Field kept his composure and put in a copybook tackle that sent the winger into touch.

That lifted the home support and they finally had something to cheer about, albeit in controversial circumstances. Cade Cust tried to find Jake Bibby with a short ball and it looked as if the centre had knocked on