Wigan win bad-tempered opener

Nikau (centre) was sent off in the later stages

Wigan 34-6 Warrington

The Warriors came from behind to defeat ill-disciplined visitors who had two men sent off in a violent Super League curtain-raiser.

With Bradford versus St Helens frozen off at Valley Parade, all eyes were on the match at the JJB Stadium on the first night of the sixth season of Super League.

And following the match Rugby Football League director of rugby Greg McCallum announced that an investigation would be launched following a series of high tackles and several outbreaks of fighting.

"I am not going to tolerate that kind of behaviour on a rugby field," said McCallum.

Frenchman Jerome Guisset tackles WIgan's Brett Dallas

"We will go through the game frame by frame to find out why it deteriorated in the way it did. I will not have players taking the law into their own hands."

The Wolves took an early lead with the first try of the new season from Ian Sibbit taking just a minute and three seconds.

Dean Busby seized on veteran Allan Langer's floated pass to get Sibbit over for his fourth try in three matches.

A penalty put the Wolves 6-0 up before Wigan's Adrian Lam levelled with a converted try and Warrington's challenge fell apart.

Toa Kohe Love was sent off for a high tackle on Steve Renouf just before the half-hour, and Wigan were 18-6 up at half-time.

The second period featured two brawls, both put on report, and a second dismissal for Tawera Nikau.

New signing Lam was one of Wigan's stars, scoring two first-half tries after passes from Kris Radlinsksi and David Furner.

Dennis Betts got Wigan's second, created by Papua New Guinea scrum-half Lam's pass.

Wigan's other new imports Furner and Matthew Johns also made impressive home debuts.

Andrew Farrell's kicking through the first half was perfect, and he only missed two of this three kicks in the second.

Two fights and sending off

Paul Johnson put Wigan further ahead seconds after half-time before the game entered a darker phase.

Both sides had a man sin-binned for fighting - Wolves substitute David Kidwell and the Warriors' Neil Cowie - in the 46th minute.

Referee Steve Ganson put the first brawl on report but finally lost patience with Nikau when another mass fight erupted two minutes from the end.

The Warrington man was sent off, presumably for inciting the whole situation after being a central figure in much of the trouble and hard-tackling.

This second brawl was also put on report, leaving the committee men at rugby league headquarters with plenty to look at after just one match.

In the later stages David Hodgson and Steve Renouf also scored for Wigan, the last score becoming the first try of the season to be determined using video evidence.

Teams:

Wigan: Radlinski, Dallas, Renouf, Johnson, Hodgson, Johns, Lam, O'Connor, Newton, Cowie, Betts, Furner, Farrell. Replacements: Stephenson, Cassidy, Smith, Davies.

Warrington: Briers, Smyth, Kohe-Love, Sibbit, Penny, Walters, Langer, Nutley, Highton, Guisset, McCurrie, Busby, Nikau. Replacements: Noone, Stenhouse, Georgallis, Kidwell.

Referee: Steve Ganson (St Helens)