Warrington Wolves Academy produced an excellent display to claim a fully deserved 18-34 victory over West Tigers in their second Australia tour game at Kirkham Oval, Camden Valley Way, Elderslie on Saturday afternoon.
The Wolves opened the scoring after twelve minutes when a fine thirty-yard break from scrum half Joe Hickey put his side on the front foot and after they then forced a goal line drop out they went down the short side and full back Noah Booth found second row Peter Scott and his ball was collected by winger Jake Thewlis out wide to score in the right corner. Booth converted from the touchline and then just after the midway point of the half the Wolves forced an error inside the West Tigers’ twenty-metre line and centre Deacon Connolly collected the loose ball before being held just short but from a quick play the ball hooker Ben Hartill long cut out ball over the top found Thewlis who squeezed over in the right corner. Booth added another fine conversion.
Just before the half-hour, the Wolves moved further clear when a ball on the last tackle from Hartill was picked up by Hickey and he stepped around three defenders to score on the right. Booth converted and then three minutes later a deep swirling high kick on the last tackle from stand-off Adam Whalley was fumbled by the Tigers and from the scrum Whalley found centre Ethan Smith who twisted in the tackle to score on the left. Booth added the conversion.
Three minutes before the break back-to-back penalties for the Tigers put them deep into Wolves territory and after stand-off Marc Tannous had been held just short Aaron Keppie found fellow substitute Jordan Bunt who crashed over at the side of the posts. Tannous converted to make the halftime score 24-6 to the Wolves as a late penalty attempt from Booth went just wide.
West Tigers got off to the perfect start in the second half when a brilliant fifty-metre break down the middle from prop forward Jekope Sovau in the first set split the Wolves’ defence and he found substitute Callum McMenemy in support to score under the posts. Scrum-half Luke Keppie converted but then four minutes later Sovau was sin-binned for a dangerous tip tackle and whilst he was off the field the Wolves made the extra man count as substitute Noah High slipped a pass to Whalley whose short ball was collected by second-row Nolan Tupaea and he stepped round a defender before offloading to Smith who scored on the left.
Just before the hour, the Wolves were over once again when a superb early kick, on the second tackle of the set, from Whalley into the in-goal area saw Tupaea react fastest to ground the ball just before it went dead to score on the left. Booth converted but then two minutes from time Wests gained a consolation try when substitute Dougie Tuala was held just short but a quick play the ball saw A Keppie find Bunt and he crashed over at the side of the posts. Tannous added the conversion to make the final score 34-18 to a delighted Warrington Wolves side.
After the game Wolves Head of Youth Ryan O’Brien said, “It was a very good team performance and another brilliant developmental experience for our players. We were aggressive, physical, and disciplined, and went after a bigger West Tigers team from the first whistle, Whilst we made plenty of improvements from the first game, we still have a lot more to learn and will be working hard to address some key areas in training this week ahead of our game against New South Wales next Saturday.”
TIGERS
Cameron Kanaan, Riley Oitmann, Daniel Waqa, Joey Raad, Jonah Watson, Marc Tannous, Luke Keppie, Jekope Sovau, Heith Pritchard, Kohan Lewis, Ewan Xuereb, Byron Laupepa, Jeremiah Leatigaga.
Subs: Aaron Keppie, James Folaumatou’i, Dougie Tuala, Michael Coady, Harry Delaney, Jordan Bunt, Denzel Schaafhausen, Jared Haywood, Callum McMenemy.
Tries
Bunt (38 mins, 78), McMenemy (41).
Goals
Tannous 2 from 2
L Keppie 1 from 1
Warrington Wolves Academy
Noah Booth, Jake Thewlis, Deacon Connolly, Ewan Smith, Frank Sergent, Adam Whalley, Joe Hickey, Logan Raughter, Ben Hartill, Joe Bajer, Peter Scott, Nolan Tupaea, Isaac Reid.
Subs: Arron Lindop, Oliver Morgan, Jack Edge, Stephen Antrobus, Noah High, Sam Roberts, Pat Irwin.
Tries
Thewlis (12 mins, 22), Hickey (29), Smith (32, 51), Tupaea (58).
Goals
Booth 5 from 7
Incredibly proud of our @WarringtonRLFC Academy today in the second game of their Australia Tour. A really impressive performance against @WestsTigers U18's and a 34-18 victory.
Thank you so much to everyone at Wests Tigers for their hospitality. 👍😃💛💙 pic.twitter.com/3TnfeWpUqZ— Alex Chicken (@Aliechick) October 28, 2023
