UK Super League results Round 5: Sam Burgess' Warrington rise to top of table as Matt Dufty and Stefan Ratchford star

Mark Molyneux

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UK Super League results Round 5: Sam Burgess' Warrington rise to top of table as Matt Dufty and Stefan Ratchford star image

Warrington Wolves have climbed to the top of the table after they ran in 10 tries during a demolition job on the winless London Broncos. 

Sam Burgess' men now sit in first place on points differential with St Helens and Catalans joining them on four wins, while Wigan are also on eight points with a game in hand on the rest of their rivals. 

Warrington Wolves rise to top of table as Matt Dufty and Stefan Ratchford star

Warrington put in another statement performance under Burgess as they put the Broncos to the sword 58-4 to rise to the top of the table. 

MORE: South Sydney set for massive switch as Jason Demetriou finds himself under pressure

Matt Dufty continued his red-hot start to the season as he notched a hat-trick, along with James Thewlis who also crossed the stripe three times during the rout. 

The Broncos were never in the game after conceding three tries inside the opening 15 minutes with the Wolves going on with the job in ruthless fashion. 

Stefan Ratchford got in plenty of goal-kicking practice on Sunday afternoon, as he kicked his first eight conversion attempts to make it 41 successful kicks on the bounce. 

This saw him set a new Super League record after surpassing Rhyse Martin's previous haul of 39. 

However, the fullback missed out on setting a first-class record when he skewed his 42nd attempt wide of the posts. 

"Stef is a great kicker, he'll be pretty disappointed with the one he missed," Burgess said post-match. 

"He has the courage to take all the kicks, which is why it's funny he missed the one in front of the posts almost.

"It's an exceptional record, it's not easy to do that. I'm gutted that he missed the last one." 

St Helens bounce back from shock loss to beat the Rhinos

Saints got back into the winner's circle with a hard-fought 18-8 win over Leeds, following their loss to Salford last week. 

A burst of two tries in three minutes during the second stanza flipped the match on its head after Paul Wellens' side found themselves 8-0 down and staring at two defeats in a row. 

Lachie Miller was a standout at Headingley with the fullback having spiders on him as he recorded 14 tackle busts. 

Super League Stat: Matt Dufty leads the comp for tackle busts with the No.1 recording 46 to date. Lachlan Miller is in second place with 38, while Tim Lafai and Ryan Hall have 32. 

However, Leeds' early dominance didn't translate on the scoreboard with their eight-point lead cut when Waqa Blake burrowed over from close-range. 

Jon Bennison and Moses Mbye then crossed for four-pointers to silence the home crowd, with Jonny Lomax nailing all three conversion attempts in the absence of Tommy Makinson and Mark Percival. 

The two sides will run it back at the same time and same place this Friday when they meet in the sixth round of the Challenge Cup.

Wigan continue their winning ways away at Salford

On Thursday, Wigan headed to Salford to take on the Red Devils in the opening match of the round. 

It took until the 39th minute for Liam Marshall to open the scoring when he reeled in a pin-point grubber from Jai Field to touch down. 

However, the Warriors didn't hold the lead for long with the hosts producing yet another comeback to establish a 12-10 lead. 

The Red Devils fought back from 20-6 down against Saints last week to grab a historic win and looked like they would repeat the trick against their neighbours. 

Yet the reigning Super League and World Club Challenge champions had other ideas as they crossed for two tries in the final four minutes - while down to 12 men with Harry Smith in the sin-bin - to win 22-12.  

"There were times there where I thought we might have been beaten," Wigan coach Matt Peet admitted. 

"With Marc Sneyd's kicking game as well with the conditions, I thought they were excellent. If they had won, they would have deserved it."

Super League Stat: Marc Sneyd leads the comp for try assists with seven. Brodie Croft is in second place with six, while Jonny Lomax is next in line with five. 

Matt Moylan earns first Super League win with Leigh

Matt Moylan claimed his first win in the Super League as Leigh hammered Hull FC 54-4 away from home. 

The playmaker scored a try, set up two and landed eight conversions for the Leopards, who were almost perfect with the ball as they finished with a 96 per cent completion rate. 

For Hull FC, Tex Hoy was the only player to reach triple figures for running metres whilst he also scored his side's only try on a bitterly disappointing day.  

Super League Stat: Hull FC leads the comp for offloads with 60, while fellow struggler London Broncos are in second place for this metric with 54. 

Catalans cruise to victory but coach Steve McNamara left unhappy 

Elsewhere on Saturday, the Dragons also piled on the points as they battered Castleford 40-14 in France. 

Despite the imposing scoreline, it wasn't all plain sailing for the home side with coach Steve McNamara captured giving his side a furious spray from the sidelines during the contest. 

The Dragons sloppiness with the ball - they completed at just 66 per cent - went unpunished from the Tigers though, who still put in a far better display after their thrashing to Huddersfield last week. 

Fullback Arthur Mourgue was particularly impressive at Stade Gilbert Brutus, scoring one try and providing three assists for the hosts. 

Meanwhile, the Giants slipped to 24-12 loss to Hull KR with Peta Hiku's switch into the centres from fullback seeing the veteran bag a double in the Robins' win.  

Super League fixtures this week

The Super League will take a break this weekend with the sixth round of the Challenge Cup taking place. 

The league will return on Thursday, March 28 when Castleford host Leeds at The Jungle. 

The rivalry round will see some blockbuster matches with St Helens and Wigan meeting on Friday, while the Hull derby and Warrington and Catalans will also face off. 

How to watch the Super League: TV channel, stream in Australia

In a first, every single Super League match of the 2024 season will be broadcast in Australia.

Fox Sports have the rights to the competition and will provide fans will access to all 162 matches this campaign.

Fox League (Channel 502) will carry the majority of games.

Every match can also be streamed via Kayo.

Mark Molyneux

Mark Molyneux Photo

Mark Molyneux is a freelance writer covering the NRL and UFC for Sporting News Australia. He has previously worked in the music industry and as a teacher around the world.