OF DEATH TO EURO GLORY HOPES
SHAUN WANE bowed out of Wigan with the Grand Final glory he had dreamed of.
But the Warriors coach was made to sweat by a Wolves side who were hungry for their own piece of history.
Warrington gave everything in the hunt for their first League title for 63 years – and their first Grand Final win in four attempts.
But the emotion of sending legend Wane out on a high saw the Warriors dig that bit deeper and fight that touch harder.
It was just enough to win, sparking ecstatic celebrations for Wigan – but scenes of sheerdevastation for the Warrington players.
They also lost the Challenge Cup Final in August, when they were favourites, and will now be haunted by two near-misses.
Wane, though, can head off to his part-time job at Scotland Rugby Union with the greatest win of all in his 30-year association with his hometown club.
Old Trafford was arguably the loudest it has been in many a month – louder even than when Jose Mourinho and Manchester United are at home.
But with Wane and Price whipping up their teams and sending them out in search of destiny in front of a 64,892 crowd this was always going to be a noisy affair.
It was no surprise that it was edgy at first, with early nerves leading to mistakes from Wigan’s John Bateman and Warrington’s Bryson Goodwin and Ben Westwood.
But Wolves got the perfect confidence booster when a knock-on by Dan Sarginson gifted them possession near the Wigan line.
Stefan Ratchford’s superb cut-out pass found Josh Charnley in space and the do that again this season.”The irony is that Burns had done much to put Bath in a position to win the game, swivelling superbly out of a tackle to score the try that put them 10 points ahead.
Then, after fellow try scorer Jamie Roberts had been knocked out in an upright tackle which surprisingly earned Jerome Kaino only a yellow card, he kicked his second penalty.
But none of that will be remembered winger made no mistake for his 25th try in 28 games.
Tyrone Roberts missed the conversion attempt but the gauntlet was well and truly thrown down and Wigan’s Sam Tomkins took it up with a vengeance.
His competitive streak bordered on recklessness in the first half and he had to be spoken to twice by referee Robert Hicks.
Both times Tomkins was merely penalised but his trip on Goodwin and then a dangerous knee slide into Daryl Clark’s head, as the hooker lay on the ground, could have been a sin-binning on due to what followed in the game’s dying moments.
“Love this sport for the highs and lows,” tweeted Burns when he finally took his head out of his hands.
“Today was an ultimate low and a mistake I’ll learn from.”
Priestland refused to lay the blame for the loss on his team-mate, who was subbed off immediately after his blunder.
“It is an easy cop-out for us if we look another day. Tomkins, unsurprisingly, was also in the thick of it when a bout of handbags broke out after Morgan Escare took exception to Goodwin gloating at an Oliver Gildart mistake.
It was hot and tense and the bad blood between Escare and Goodwin spilled over as they left the field at half-time, with Wigan prop Romain Navarrete also launching himself at Goodwin.
No immediate action was taken on the players involved but the incident was included in the match commissioner’s report and punishment could follow in the next few days.
In between all the ill feeling there was also plenty of skill to applaud with Wigan taking a first-half lead with two tries.
Gildart shimmied his way past both Tom Lineham and Kevin Brown to send Dom Manfredi over for a try in just his fifth game back after more than two years out injured. Minutes later a planned at that one moment and say that has cost us the game,” said the Wales fly-half.
“We should have been good enough to not have to rely on one try or a kick here and there.”
Priestland insisted Burns would bounce back. “Freddie will be fine, I guarantee it,” he said.
Elsewhere in the Champions Cup CJ Stander’s try earned Munster a 10-10 at Exeter while Edinburgh fell just short of a move saw Wigan’s other winger, Tom Davies, score on his Grand Final debut after racing on to a George Williams grubber kick.
Tomkins missed both conversion attempts, sending Wigan in at half-time with a four-point lead and with the game on a knife edge.
The second half started cagily and only a last-ditch tackle by Gildart and Manfredi denied Lineham a try in the corner.
Manfredi’s eye was badly cut in the tackle and he had to leave the field for several minutes for it to be stitched.
Escare also needed facial treatment after blood poured from his eyebrow when Charnley accidentally crashed his knee into his head.
Just like Tomkins, Charnley was only penalised but the incidents underlined how brutal this game was.
Two brilliant breaks by Ratchford sounded the alarm bells for Wigan but they survived with some gutsy defence.
A mistake by Charnley, forced by more ferocious rearguard Wigan tackling, ruined another Wolves chance.
Warrington’s hopes were dented further when Roberts went off with a knee injury with 14 minutes left.
Tomkins missed a long-range 70th-minute penalty but Manfredi sealed the win with a late second try to give Wane his third league title in the last six years.
Wane said: “I just wanted the win against a champion team.”
“It’s coming to an end. It’s the perfect way to finish. I’ve got so much respect for the players. I’ve lived the dream, it’s an outstanding feeling.”
Captain Sean O’Loughlin added: “It’s going to be tough without Shaun.
“He’s been fantastic for us and he’ll be sorely missed.” huge upset and had to settle for a losing bonus point with a narrow 21-15 defeat by Montpellier in France.
Ulster ran in three tries as they began their campaign with a 24-10 win over Leicester, while a late penalty try saw Scarlets’ campaign get off to a losing start against Racing 92.
Referee Matthew Carley punished them with minutes left for collapsing the maul, handing the visitors victory.