So, a few hours after berating his team for getting an early two score lead and then relaxing and letting a very capable Wigton team back into the game, did he feel even the slightest twinge of regret at the harshness of his comments having watched the highly paid England team sleep walk through the entire second half against Wales? No.

On an afternoon perfect for rugby with no breeze, some sunshine and excellent conditions underfoot Bolton kicked off against a Wigton team who had had a decent start to the season with two wins out of three and who had arrived early, presumably to spend as much time in Bolton as they possibly could. Early exchanges in midfield showed both defences holding up well and gave no indication of the try fest to come, but after 10 minutes the Wigton fly half kicked downfield and Jonny Stanfield, the veteran of almost one whole previous game at fullback, ran the ball back to the away team’s line and from this position Louis Critchlow crashed over for the first try. Five minutes after this a similar thing happened and this time Will Bate touched down from short range. Mike Mills converted and at 12-0 all looked set fair for a Bolton side going for a third win in a row to cement their place near the top of the league table at this early stage of the season. Unfortunately Wigton had not read that particular script and settled into their own game. Bolton, disrupted by back row injuries to Ash Cooper and Niall Murphy lost some intensity at the breakdown and the Wigton pack capitalized scoring two quick tries, firstly from a driving maul at a lineout and then benefitting from poor defence in the Bolton midfield to touch down under the posts and take a 14-12 lead. At this point the game could have gone either way, but to their credit the Bolton team rallied and forced a couple of kickable penalties to edge their noses in front again.

The match was decided either side of half time: firstly Bolton won a couple of quick rucks following a midfield burst by Critchlow and good handling saw Will Bate race in unopposed from 30 metres for his second touchdown to bring the first half to a close at 25-14, and more good handling directly from the second half restart saw Bolton benefit from mismatches out wide and Bate fed Kieron Schacklock who sprinted in from 40 metres to score his first try for the first XV in only his second outing. Thereafter penalties were traded and a spell of Wigton pressure was repelled by some excellent Bolton try line defence, but the visitors came back and scored a disputed try to narrow the gap once more. Again Bolton awoke briefly when James Singleton went over following another Stanfield break, but the visitors had the final say when their pack manufactured the final score of the day which meant that they at least had a try bonus point to head back up the M6 with.

So another bonus point home win for Bolton and signs that both teams are on the road to better things after their relegations last season. Bolton in particular played their best rugby of the season in brief spells, but their tendency to switch off for periods of the game might prove costly as the season wears on.