THERE was no need for the luck of the Irish for Warrington Wolves on St Patrick’s Day.

Luck played no part in this one, for this was as dominant a display as you could possibly fathom.

Of course, Wire were expected to win and win well against a London side currently struggling to adapt to the top flight, although the adventure they show with the ball will see them cause plenty of sides problems down the line.

However, there was plenty for Sam Burgess to be pleased with as he watched his patched-up side dish out some capital punishment.

Let’s not forget that Warrington headed south without the services of seven first-team players, including both of their first-choice half-backs in George Williams and Josh Drinkwater.

Lachlan Fitzgibbon, Danny Walker and Ben Currie are all certain starters when available and the same could probably be said of Matty Nicholson, so there was plenty of disruption for the squad to deal with.

All of that made this game somewhat of a banana skin, so they deserve a great deal of credit for the way in which they skipped around it.

A big reason they were able to do that was the start they made to both halves – from the kick off and after half time, they scored three quickfire tries to take all of the wind out of the hosts.

The middle was an area in which they held a clear advantage and they stuck to it, bashing down the door before coming up with some crisp movement on the edges.

It did not always work as you’d perhaps expect at this time of the season, especially given the chopping and changing Wire have had to do in the halves – Stefan Ratchford was Leon Hayes’ third different partner in his four appearances – but when it did click, things continued to look fluid.

On what was a record-breaking day for him, Ratchford looked at home in the pivots – while he may not have as central a role in this year’s side, he is quickly becoming Burgess’ “Mr Fix-It,” popping up whenever and wherever he is needed and doing so solidly.

Matt Dufty continued his dominant form to assert himself as Super League’s in-form player and perhaps most satisfyingly, the team kept their foot down in the second half when it would have been easy to put the cue in the rack.

So things continue to look rosy in the Warrington Wolves garden and with several players nearing returns, there is the potential for it to get better still.

While nobody will get carried away with this result in isolation, there is plenty of cause for encouragement.