Wigan Warriors opened the new Women's Super League Super Four format with a ruthless 44-6 win over St Helens at the BrewDog Stadium on 6 August 2026, extending their perfect record this season to eight from eight BBC Sport.

The Super Four stage is the competition's end-of-season format, where the top sides play each other to determine Grand Final qualification. This opening fixture, broadcast live on Sky Sports with a 5.15pm kick-off, was the first of three Super Four matches scheduled for television coverage Sky Sports.

St Helens actually began with a promising spell. Full-back Liv Leach, one of the side's brightest young talents, looked dangerous early on. But on the last tackle of a Saints set — the sixth and final play a team gets with the ball before handing over possession — Leach spilled a high kick into the low evening sun, and Wigan pounced for the opening try BBC Sport.

Matters worsened for Saints when Leach was carried off the field during the match, leaving the home side without their starting full-back for the remainder of the contest. The nature of the injury was not specified in match reporting.

From there, Wigan's quality told. They ran in nine tries, with Ellise Derbyshire and Eva Hunter each crossing twice, and further scores from Anna Davies, Molly Jones, Remi Wilton, Jenna Foubister and Mary Coleman BBC Sport.

Hunter's individual try was the pick of the lot. The Woman of Steel — the award given to the Super League's outstanding player — collected the ball inside her own half and sliced through the Saints defence on her own. For a player already recognised as the best in the competition, it was the kind of moment that lifts a one-sided scoreline into something memorable.

Jones's try carried its own story. She was making her first appearance of the season after recovering from a knee injury, and marked her return by getting on the scoresheet — a welcome boost for a Wigan side already humming without her.

St Helens managed only a consolation. Luci McColm crossed for a try, with Gaskin adding the goal (the kick at the posts after a try, worth two points if successful), but the gap never closed BBC Sport.

For Wigan, coached by Denis Betts, the win was their fifth successive victory over St Helens in the past 12 months. That run includes a 54-6 thrashing in the Challenge Cup final at Wembley earlier in the campaign. The symmetry of those two scorelines — 54-6 at Wembley, 44-6 here — tells its own grim story for Saints supporters.

St Helens have now lost a Grand Final in 2025 and opened their 2026 Super Four campaign with a 38-point home defeat. The club's pre-season fixture announcement noted the pain of that Grand Final loss and signalled a determination to rebuild Rugby Football League. On this evidence, the gap to Wigan has not narrowed.

The rest of the Super Four schedule now follows, with the top sides chasing a place in the Grand Final. Wigan, on this form, look the team to catch.