Super League: Josh Charnley runs riot as Wigan crush hapless Vikings

Wigan wasted little time getting their noses in front through Sam Tomkins with Charnley then helping himself to the next three of the Warriors' tries.

Tomkins' second, Chris Tuson and Charnley's fourth wrapped up the first-half scoring with Pat Richards converting five of the seven tries for an emphatic 38-0 advantage.

Things continued to go Wigan's way after the interval with further scores from Liam Farrell, Pat Richards and Iain Thornley. Widnes avoided being blanked when Lloyd White crossed the whitewash, but there was still time for Tomkins to complete his hat-trick.

Tomkins, who missed the Warriors' defeat by Leeds with a dead leg, took only seven minutes to score the game's opening try, finishing off a break by Charnley, who quickly took centre stage with a genuine hat-trick.

The right winger, who topped the Super League try chart in 2012, supported a break by stand-off Blake Green to score his first, took a pass from his centre partner Darrell Goulding for his second and raced onto Matty Smith's pinpoint grubber kick to complete a 12-minute hat-trick.

Charnley then showed his ability at the other end by forcing Widnes winger Patrick Ah Van into touch as the visitors briefly threatened the Wigan try line.

Injury

Tomkins grabbed his second try after half an hour, touching down his own kick, before O'Loughlin was forced out of the action.

Charnley turned provider by popping up the ball for second rower Chris Tuson to score Wigan's sixth try before finishing off a superb break by replacement prop Scott Taylor for his fourth try four minutes before half-time.

Charnley has now scored a remarkable total of 73 tries in 74 appearances for his home-town club.

There was little respite for the shell-shocked visitors after the break, with centre Iain Thornley breaking from halfway to send second rower Liam Farrell over for his fifth try of the season.

Pat Richards had been a virtual spectator on Wigan's left wing but he eventually got on the scoresheet after 55 minutes after Sam Tomkins had combined with younger brother Logan to work the ball out to the Irish international.

Thornley got in on the scoring act before White briefly halted the one-way traffic with a consolation short-range try.

There was still time for Tomkins to complete his hat-trick, however, and Richards took his goal tally to nine from 11 attempts and finish with a 22-point total.