Huddersfield Giants 22 Wigan Warriors 10: Giants fully exploit absence of Tomkins from Warriors

Warriors coach Shaun Wane was forced to re-shuffle his side after Tomkins failed to recover from a shoulder injury sustained in the draw against Warrington and he admits the England full-back could be missing for some time.

“He copped a knee from Adrian Morley and thought he had broken his scapula but we’ve had him scanned and it’s just really bad bruising, muscle damage,” said Wane.

“We’ll assess him as we go along but he’s unlikely to play next week.”

The visitors initially made light of the absence of their talisman as they split the Huddersfield defence twice in as many minutes to score tries through Liam Farrell and makeshift full-back Josh Charney and surge into a 10-0 lead.

But the Giants hit back to keep the Warriors scoreless for the last 70 minutes and clinched victory with Brett Ferres’s 90-metre interception try in the last play of the match as Wigan fought desperately for a draw.

“Sam’s a great player but I don’t want his absence to take away from the spectacle, whether we win, lose or draw,” said Giants chief Anderson.

“It was a great game and Sam being there would have only added to it. He wasn’t so you’ve got to give credit to the 34 blokes who were out there.

“It was played tough by two very good teams. It was the sort of game we needed to make sure we actually believe in the things we are putting in place.

“It was a real arm wrestle. It wasn’t pretty but who cares if you win it?

“The amount of pressure that was applied to us and our calmness under it was a credit to their belief in each other and also the conditioning. We had one play-the-ball in the last 11 sets.”

Winger Jermaine McGillvary and second-row Jamie Cording scored Huddersfield’s other tries and captain Danny Brough kicked five goals as the Giants continued their impressive start to the season, which began with a stunning victory at St Helens.

Anderson added: “Wigan are a great team and this gives us a helluva lot of belief going forward.

“There is massive room for improvement in this group. I am not going to get carried away by three wins. My thoughts are now concentrating on Wakefield next week and the improvements we can make.”

Wane refused to use Tomkins’s absence as an excuse for his side’s first defeat of the season.

Huddersfield Giants: Grix, Murphy, Cudjoe, Wardle, McGillvary, Brough, Robinson, Kopczak, Faiumu, Fielden, Ferres, Chan, Fairbank. Substitutes: Crabtree, Lunt, Patrick, Cording.

Wigan Warriors: Charnley, Gelling, Goulding, Thornley, Richards, Green, Smith, Dudson, McIlorum, Mossop, Farrell, Hughes, O’Loughlin. Substitutes: Flower, Taylor, Powell, Burke.

Referee: J Child (Dewsbury).