Wakefield Trinity centre Bill Tupou inspired his side to a crucial 36-8 victory over Widnes Vikings to maintain their push for a top-four finish in Betfred Super League.
The 27-year-old Kiwi was in sparkling form for Trinity, showing tremendous pace to score two tries and creating two others for winger Mason Caton-Brown as he proved to be a constant thorn in the Vikings defence.
As well as Tupou and Caton-Brown's scores, Wakefield claimed other tries through Sam Williams and Tinirau Arona, with Liam Finn landing six goals to secure a convincing win.
The players go over to thank the fans for their fantastic support! #RedWhiteAndBlueArmy pic.twitter.com/F01ER6TwQf
— Wakefield Trinity (@WTrinityRL) July 14, 2017
Defeat for Widnes means they will finish in the bottom two and will face four games away and three at home as they fight for their Super League lives in the Qualifier 8s.
Widnes' points came from a solitary try by Joe Mellor and two goals from Stefan Marsh which took him past the 250-point mark in his Super League career.
Wakefield coach Chris Chester praised the performance of Tupou: "Bill has been outstanding all season and he carried the ball very well again tonight, he defended well and was a real handful throughout.
"I thought the whole forward pack put in a fantastic effort and the two halves controlled the game for us.
"We are peaking at the right time and we can hopefully take that confidence through to the Super 8s competition. If we get a result next week against St Helens it will mean four home fixtures which will be massive for us."
LISTEN: Denis Betts speaks to the media following the Club's defeat against Wakefield Trinity. https://t.co/eOE4Irc0ji pic.twitter.com/4CeYFdi3gq
— Widnes Vikings (@WidnesRL) July 14, 2017
Widnes coach Denis Betts said: "It was patchy stuff again. We started okay, got back into the game at 8-6 and it was pretty even and we were in the mix, and then we put ourselves under pressure.
"Our completion rate was atrocious, we just can't keep hold of the ball.
"Our skill in the game at times was average and it felt players were just trying to get through the game."
| Player | T | TA | TK | MT | MI | TB | AT | C | M | AG | CB | DR | E | FT | G | MG | OF | P |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Joe Mellor | 1 | 0 | 23 | 5 | 1 | 11 | 1 | 9 | 62 | 6.89 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Jordan Johnstone | 0 | 0 | 17 | 3 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 29 | 7.25 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Tom Olbison | 0 | 0 | 22 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 54 | 9.00 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Manese Manuokafoa | 0 | 0 | 13 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 72 | 14.40 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Eamon O'Carroll | 0 | 0 | 19 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 39 | 9.75 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Hep Cahill | 0 | 0 | 37 | 8 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 112 | 10.18 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 |
| Matt Whitley | 0 | 0 | 45 | 13 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 46 | 7.67 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Chris Houston | 0 | 0 | 38 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 9 | 78 | 8.67 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Jack Buchanan | 0 | 0 | 27 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 10 | 99 | 9.90 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Aaron Heremaia | 0 | 0 | 13 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 13 | 13.00 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Gil Dudson | 0 | 0 | 18 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 86 | 7.82 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Rangi Chase | 0 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 6 | 7 | 33 | 4.71 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Stefan Marsh | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 74 | 7.40 | 0 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Charly Runciman | 0 | 0 | 13 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 50 | 6.25 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Chris Bridge | 0 | 0 | 18 | 4 | 8 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 55 | 6.88 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Ryan Ince | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 11 | 103 | 9.36 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Corey Thompson | 0 | 0 | 10 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 11 | 113 | 10.27 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Player | T | TA | TK | MT | MI | TB | AT | C | M | AG | CB | DR | E | FT | G | MG | OF | P |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bill Tupou | 2 | 2 | 13 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 0 | 17 | 245 | 14.41 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Mason Caton-Brown | 2 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 16 | 183 | 11.44 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Sam Williams | 1 | 0 | 13 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 8 | 58 | 7.25 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Tinirau Arona | 1 | 0 | 28 | 7 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 18 | 108 | 6.00 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Joe Arundel | 0 | 1 | 15 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 10 | 78 | 7.80 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Ben Jones-Bishop | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 13 | 76 | 5.85 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Scott Grix | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 12 | 58 | 4.83 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Liam Finn | 0 | 1 | 21 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 27 | 6.75 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Adam Walker | 0 | 0 | 16 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 12 | 66 | 5.50 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Kyle Wood | 0 | 0 | 36 | 8 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 41 | 5.86 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Craig Huby | 0 | 0 | 14 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 7 | 65 | 9.29 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Mat Ashurst | 0 | 0 | 33 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 9 | 53 | 5.89 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Dean Hadley | 0 | 0 | 30 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 51 | 4.64 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Anthony England | 0 | 0 | 13 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 12 | 81 | 6.75 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| David Fifita | 0 | 0 | 13 | 5 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 16 | 99 | 6.19 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Keegan Hirst | 0 | 0 | 13 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 7 | 59 | 8.43 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Chris Annakin | 0 | 0 | 17 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 44 | 7.33 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Stats Key
