Wigan Warriors desperately hung on in a classic encounter to inflict a third defeat in five matches on Leeds Rhinos, who have led the engage Super League since February, but are vulnerable now to St Helens, who travel to Harlequins this evening and are coming up in their slipstream.

Had Rob Burrow landed a 40-metre penalty goal after Wigan had strayed offside with 20 seconds left on the clock, Leeds would have moved four points clear at the top, instead of being only two ahead. But with Kevin Sinfield, Leeds’ captain and prolific points-scorer, off the field after injuring his right knee ten minutes previously, the noise and pressure got to Burrow and the Warriors celebrated a remarkable victory that keeps them in touch with the leading trio.

It passed to Stuart Fielden to step up, with Wigan missing the talismanic figure of Iafeta Paleaaesina, who had appeared in all bar one of their previous 75 matches. The Great Britain prop has been a shadow of his former self for two seasons, but he rolled back the years in a ferocious tussle with Jamie Peacock, his former Bradford Bulls teammate. Fielden also got back to shovel the ball clear after Danny McGuire had chipped through in the one sustained Leeds attack of a first half dominated by the incisive Warriors.

Before Fielden wobbled off after a collision with George Carmont, one of his own players, just before the break, Wigan had already breached Leeds three times, the first after only 51 seconds. Pat Richards surged through the middle and Trent Barrett caught out the sliding Leeds defence with an exquisitely threaded kick through on the left wing for the diving Cameron Phelps.

Leeds were still recovering from that blow when Carmont sent Phelps racing clear of Brent Webb to beat McGuire’s tackle on the line. When Liam Colbon rose to collect Thomas Leuluai’s crafty chipped kick, the Rhinos were even more embittered at the chances they had frittered away amid the frenetic pace set by the home side, for whom Richards dropped a goal to put them clear at 17-0 in the last minute of the half.

But a storm was brewing, and even though Matt Diskin knocked on over the Wigan line, Burrow, the diminutive scrum half, evaded seven tacklers in an extraordinary 60-metre run that was finished off by the supporting McGuire, who would have had a subsequent try had he not been impeded as he burst clear.

Ryan Hall foiled a Wigan try but conceded a penalty for holding down Mick Higham, affording Richards a simple two points, and when Darrell Goulding scrambled clear in the 59th minute from the consistently impressive Carmont, they looked to be out of sight at 23-6. If that thought crossed Wigan minds, however, they were pulled up by three more Leeds tries in ten minutes.

Wigan were wading through treacle. From a scrum, McGuire’s arcing run furnished a score for Hall. Burrow’s kick on the fly was palmed back by Scott Donald at the corner into the path of Keith Senior, and the Leeds impetus, even with Sinfield being carried off, was maintained by Gareth Ellis scooping up McGuire’s pass.

In Sinfield’s absence, Burrow landed the conversion but skewed his last-gasp attempt. It could turn out to be a defining moment in a season irresistibly bubbling towards its climax.



Scorers: Wigan Warriors: Tries: Phelps 2, Colbon, Goulding. Goals: Richards 3. Dropped goal: Richards. Leeds Rhinos: Tries: McGuire, Hall, Senior, Ellis. Goals: Sinfield 2, Burrow.

Wigan Warriors: P Richards; M Calderwood, D Goulding, G Carmont, C Phelps; T Barrett, T Leuluai; S Fielden, M Higham, A Coley, H Hansen, J Tomkins, G Hock. Interchange: L Colbon, M McIlorum, E O’Carroll, C Tuson.

Leeds Rhinos: B Webb; R Hall, G Ellis, K Senior, S Donald; D McGuire, R Burrow; K Leuluai, M Diskin, J Peacock, J Jones-Buchanan, A Lauitiiti, K Sinfield. Interchange: R Bailey, L Burgess, D Allan, L Smith.

Referee: A Klein.