Wakefield Trinity boss Willie Poching left fuming by defensive effort in heavy defeat by Wigan Warriors

Wakefield Trinity coach Willie Poching admitted his team’s defence was way below par as they conceded nine tries against Wigan.

He said: “Defensively, we were way off today. We tried to address some of that at half-time, but we didn’t quite get a stronghold on what we wanted to do at the start of that second half.

“They were doing quick offloads, and by play three they were on halfway. They had the ascendency for a while.”

Although Poching cannot really argue about the decision to send Kelepi Tanginoa to the sin-bin in the first half.

Poching added: “Difficult as it was, it was more difficult with 12 men.

“To lose Kelepi before half-time was tough.

“They were 24 points already when we had 13 men.

“There were some moments too often when we couldn’t get a quick play-the-ball.

“It was a physical thing and an attitude thing. Full credit to Wigan, they were fantastic.”

Wigan head coach Matt Peet was delighted with the way his side responded to their defeat against St Helens on Good Friday.

The Warriors lost 22-4 against fierce rivals St Helens on Good Friday, but they hit back with an easy win over Wakefield.

Peet said: “I am pleased. It’s always a challenging game the Easter Monday one, and I thought the way we went about it was very professional.”

Wigan: Field, Miski, Halsall, Bibby, French, Cust, Smith, Byrne, Powell, Singleton, Farrell, Bateman, Smithies. Replacements: Mago, Ellis, Havard, Shorrocks.

Wakefield: Gaskell, Murphy, Lyne, Hall, Minns, Miller, Lino, Battye, Kay, Aydin, Tanginoa, Adebiyi, Batchelor. Replacements: Ashurst, Pitts, Walker, Shaw.

Referee: Jack Smith (RFL)