Tanginoa shines with four tries as Warrington Wolves overpower Castleford Tigers
Kelepi Tanginoa achieved his first career hat-trick, scoring four tries, as Warrington Wolves delivered a commanding performance against Castleford Tigers to maintain their perfect Super League record.
Matty Ashton, returning from a long-term injury, opened the scoring with two tries before securing his own hat-trick later in the match. Warrington’s dominance was evident at the Halliwell Jones Stadium, with Ben Currie scoring twice, alongside tries from Albert Hopoate, Sam Stone, and James Harrison. Eighteen-year-old half-back Ewan Irwin, selected over veteran Marc Sneyd, successfully converted 12 of 14 goal attempts.
This victory places Warrington second in the league standings, trailing only the Wigan Warriors, who have played one more game and also remain unbeaten.
Despite expectations of a competitive season, this match was a decisive and one-sided victory for Warrington, who completed their first 36 sets and displayed moments of exceptional skill.
Castleford faced early setbacks with Jack Ashworth and Joe Stimson both undergoing head injury assessments shortly after kickoff, with Stimson unable to return. The Tigers struggled to match Warrington’s ruck speed and wide attacking pace.
Ashton, sidelined for 10 months due to anterior cruciate ligament damage, contributed two tries within the first 15 minutes, supported by Irwin’s two penalty goals. Warrington’s left-side attack overwhelmed Castleford’s defense, and Ben Currie capitalized on the Tigers’ over-commitment to score under the posts. Semi Valemei managed to score Castleford’s sole try with a strong leap and power.
Warrington quickly regained control as Tanginoa scored his first try from a George Williams grubber kick and then powered past Tom Weaver for his second. Tanginoa, who secured three trophies with Hull KR last season, completed his hat-trick shortly after halftime. Hopoate added a 60-metre sprint try, followed by Currie’s further score, intensifying Castleford’s difficulties.
Tanginoa’s fourth try was a highlight, arriving swiftly on a pass from Williams after an impressive offload from Jordan Crowther. Despite Toby King’s sin-binning, Warrington maintained momentum, with Josh Thewlis breaking through to set up Stone’s try while the team was temporarily down to 12 players.
Upon King’s return, Harrison scored his first try of the season, and Ashton completed his hat-trick with a skillful dribble finish. Irwin’s 24 points, including 12 goals, contributed to Warrington’s largest-ever victory over Castleford.
Coach reactions
Warrington coach Sam Burgess expressed satisfaction with his team’s performance:
"It was very clean. Firstly, I liked our physicality early in the game. We were physical when we needed to be and kept hold of the ball - I don't think we made an error until late in the game so it made it very hard for Castleford.
"The ball bounced our way, we had a few calls so it just fell in our lap. You have those days so we'll take them but it was a very polished performance and I'm happy with it.
"At half-time we challenged them as we thought they might be complacent and take our foot off the gas but we were very consistent with who we want to be. Today was a good step forward for us as a group.
"Kelepi was nice for us and George [Williams] prefers playing on the left and Ewan [Irwin] slots on the right so the balance of the team was nice, and the control."
Castleford coach Ryan Carr acknowledged his team’s shortcomings:
"It was horrible, not good enough. They played really well, we played really poorly, and that sums it up.
"There are no excuses for it. It hurts you, losing middles to head knocks, but at the end of the day we didn't make the decision to go out, put our bodies on the line and go after it.
"We're not going to skim over it. We're going to have a good look at ourselves. I feel like we have been competing in the last few games but it's a disappointing day for us.
"It's embarrassing and not good enough. I feel sorry for our members and our fans and we have to make sure that we fix it.
"The tries they scored were things we had talked about all week, that we'd worked hard on, specific drills to combat what they're good at, because they're a good footy team.
"But when they're making a line-break straight through your middle third that's nothing to do with personnel, that's just whoever is in that jersey needs to make that tackle."
Team line-ups
Warrington: Josh Thewlis; J. Smith, King, Hopoate, Ashton; Williams, Irwin; Yates, Walker, Byrne, Stone, Tanginoa, Currie.
Interchanges: Harrison, Crowther, Philbin, Webster.
Castleford: Cini; Ravalawa, McIntosh, Valemei, Qareqare; Asi, Weaver; Greacen, Lawler, Ashworth, Lane, Hirst, Stimson.
Interchanges: Doolan, Hall, Atoni, Beckett.
