Lauiti'iti inspires Rhinos' whitewash of sorry Wigan

Wigan suffered their worst-ever defeat as their boys proved no match for the battle-hardened men of Leeds on a black day in the club's history. An injury-ravaged side battled bravely enough in the first half before being overrun in the second to produce a scoreline that eclipsed the club's previous low - 58-3 on this ground in 1972.

Wigan suffered their worst-ever defeat as their boys proved no match for the battle-hardened men of Leeds on a black day in the club's history. An injury-ravaged side battled bravely enough in the first half before being overrun in the second to produce a scoreline that eclipsed the club's previous low - 58-3 on this ground in 1972.

Chev Walker, Mark Calderwood, Danny McGuire, Rob Burrow and even Barrie McDermott all scored two tries apiece, but the true star of the show was Ali Lauiti'iti, whose ability to get the ball out of the tackle cut Wigan to ribbons time and time again.

The towering second-rower had scored five tries at Wakefield last weekend. Last night he managed just the one, but had an educated hand in many of the other dozen.

"That's two weeks in a row,'' said his admiring coach, Tony Smith. "He didn't grab the limelight through his try-scoring feats tonight, but he certainly laid some on. He's a bit shy that way."

Smith expressed sympathy with an outgunned Wigan side that included seven players of 20 or less.

"I feel for Wigan," he said. "They wouldn't have liked what happened to them today. There were still a lot of big names out there and we were prepared for a dogfight, which we didn't get."

It looked as though Smith might get his dogfight in the first half, when Wigan defended with some resolution and limited Leeds to tries from Burrow, Walker and the impressive Andrew Dunemann in the first half hour. But then Gareth Ellis laid on a try for McDermott and the second half was to prove a very different experience.

"I feel sorry for them," said Wigan's new coach, Ian Millward, who faces the daunting prospect of a visit to his former club, St Helens, in the Challenge Cup quarter-final next Sunday. "They were outmuscled and out-skilled."

That began when Walker's kick enabled Calderwood to show what Leeds will miss when he departs at the end of the season. Lauiti'iti was responsible for tries from McGuire and Keith Senior as Leeds made it three in five minutes. Almost all their players handled before Walker claimed his second and another exquisite one-handed pass from Lauiti'iti gave McDermott a rare double.

Calderwood and McGuire both claimed their second tries before the superb Lauiti'iti got one of his own 10 minutes from time and Burrow rounded off the rout.

Millward was adamant that his young players will learn even from a painful experience like this. What was worrying to see, though, was how little encouragement they seemed to be getting from some of their senior players during Leeds' second-half demolition job.

Leeds: Mathers; Calderwood, Walker, Senior, Bai; Sinfield, Burrow; Bailey, Dunemann, Ward, McKenna, Jones-Buchanan, Ellis. Substitutes used: Lauiti'iti, Poching, McGuire, McDermott.

Wigan: Brown; Carney, Aspinwall, Botham, Melling; Moran, Coyle; Guisset, Newton, Sculthorpe, Hansen, Tickle, Allen. Substitutes used: Seuseu, Godwin, Wild, Tomkins.

Referee: I Smith (Oldham).