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These may still be considered the formative years of Sam Burgess’s coaching career but, as Warrington Wolves celebrate back-to-back Challenge Cup finals, it was worth a moment to reflect on how, just as he did in his playing days, Burgess belied his lack of experience on the biggest stage once again.
This year has not been anything like as enjoyable a season in charge of the Wolves for Burgess. After the high of guiding Warrington to a cup final and a playoff semi-final in his first year as a head coach, the early part of this campaign has been much more testing for the 36-year-old coach, with inconsistency at the heart of most of what they have done. It is perhaps easy to forget that, in coaching terms at least, he is still incredibly young.
But in their biggest game of the season and on one of the hottest, most energy-sapping days of the year so far, Burgess – whose own future could be back in Australia sooner rather than later after admitting he would be interested in coaching the new Perth franchise in the National Rugby League – got his selection and his tactics on the money to set up an intriguing final against Hull KR next month at Wembley.
Rugby league can often be overcomplicated but here Burgess and Warrington won this semi-final by keeping it simple. Whether he had spotted that Leigh had named two backs on their bench, leaving them light, we do not know. But Burgess rolled out his heavy artillery and instructed them to do the basics, and do it well.
Of course, executing that gameplan is a lot easier when you have Marc Sneyd in your team. The 34-year-old is a timeless master of producing on occasions such as this: as proven by his back-to-back Lance Todd Trophy triumphs. When the stakes are at their highest, Sneyd so often delivers. The fact he played here just 17 days after fracturing an eye socket was also incredible.
“He was the bloke who came to me and said: ‘I’ll train this week. And if I train, I’ll play,’” Burgess said. “He’d just had surgery a few days earlier. I’m proud for Marc and his family. I’m always proud of the players. And it’s great to get back to Wembley to have another go.”
Sneyd’s meticulous kicking game, the best there is in Super League, laid the platform for Warrington to complete at a ruthless nature and grind away a lighter Leigh interchange bench. After the opening hour, Warrington had completed 24 of their 25 sets in possession. That is completion at an absolutely elite standard.
Leigh will view this as a missed opportunity. They have started this season well and would have fancied their chances of a second meeting with Hull KR in the cup final in three years. When Edwin Ipape scored after barely a minute, those hopes would have been raised even further.
But Warrington were much the better of the two sides. Spearheaded by the outstanding Paul Vaughan, their pack soon established the upper hand. Rodrick Tai nudged them ahead before Vaughan scored a wonderful solo effort from dummy-half, with Sneyd converting both to make it 12-4.
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The boot of Sneyd, as it has been in the Challenge Cup before, would prove decisive. A penalty followed by a drop goal made it 15-4 at the break. It seemed as though Warrington wouldn’t need that drop goal as a buffer but in truth, it ensured they always remained at arm’s length. His mid-season arrival from Salford has already paid dividends.
Leigh did improve after the break, scoring shortly into the second half as Tesi Niu finished a fine break from Gareth O’Brien, who missed the conversion to leave the gap at seven. That meant the Wolves always had breathing space: and as the Leopards’ pack wilted in the final stages, they went further ahead through Toby King’s try.
There was a consolation for Leigh as Niu scored again, but there never felt like a comeback was on the horizon. So it is Warrington and Burgess who are back at Wembley, with Hull KR – without a major trophy since 1985 – their opposition in three weeks.
And one final note. There is a complaint in Super League that the Grand Final can often have a whiff of familiarity about it. The game at Wembley next month will be the first time Warrington have played Hull KR in a final since 1905. That alone makes it worth watching.
