Super League: Warrington Wolves beat Hull KR before Hull FC's comeback at Leigh Leopards falls just short

Hull KR's Super League title defence continues to unravel as they crashed to a 34-12 defeat against resurgent Warrington at the Halliwell Jones Stadium.

Willie Peters' men looked flat-footed and woefully short of ideas as they failed to respond to last week's home loss to Wakefield and left their hopes of sealing a top-six play-off slot in doubt.

Having lost three of their last four, the hosts entered the game under arguably more pressure to produce a result but Sam Burgess' side reacted brilliantly, slamming the door in a shut-out first half before ultimately cruising to a much-needed win.

Peters said after the game: "The way we played today, that team shouldn't be in a semi-final.

"The first 30 minutes couldn't have gone any worse for us. It's very tough, but there's no time to feel sorry for ourselves. It's difficult to pinpoint one thing at the moment, but we certainly need to simplify things and actually start to get better."

Hull KR started the game without winger Joe Burgess amid reports of a training ground altercation with captain Elliot Minchella and a testing week got worse as they limped to half-time 22-0 adrift.

An early Oliver Gildart break was ruled out for offside before Leon Hayes set up Lachlan Webster to wriggle over for the hosts' opener after eight minutes. Hayes was the provider again for the second try as James Harrison galloped through a static Hull KR line to score.

Mikey Lewis was fortunate to avoid punishment for an apparent headbutt on Adam Holroyd before Arthur Mourgue and Tom Davies collided, enabling Matty Ashton to step inside and cross for his 100th Super League try.

Within two minutes, Toff Sipley's break was finished off by Danny Walker, and Ewan Irwin's third successful kick put Warrington in command at the break.

Hayes punctured a hole in the Rovers rearguard after 52 minutes and Joe Philbin then crashed over for Warrington's fifth, before the visitors finally got on the scoresheet through Gildart on the hour mark.

As the momentum ebbed out of the game, Lewis was eventually sin-binned for a ridiculously late tackle on Irwin, who duly kicked his personal tally for the day into double figures. Lewis is now likely to miss Thursday's derby with Hull FC.

Ashton scored his second and Warrington's sixth with two minutes remaining before James Bachelor's late effort at least gave Rovers the scant consolation of ending the afternoon in double figures.