Brett Hodgson kicked 14 points for Warrington Wolves but boss Tony Smith insisted their defence proved the difference in a 42-10 win over Hull KR in the English Super League on Sunday.

Hodgson, who played in Wests Tigers’ 2005 NRL premiership team, returned to action from an ankle injury but for Smith the resilience of his side was the shining light as they made it four games unbeaten.

Hodgson kicked seven goals for last season’s table toppers and was instrumental in much of the Wolves’ bright play.

“I think we had around 36 tackles in a row on our own line just before half-time,” said Smith.

“That shows a fair bit of commitment from the team to defend that many back-to-back sets.

“But it does have a price to pay if you have to defend that much and we didn’t really control the ball well enough.

“We had a great start to the game with a couple of spectacular tries and I think we thought we were going to be able to do that all day. But we were able to finish off with a few more spectacular tries which we are capable of.”

Elsewhere, another former Wests Tigers player, winger Pat Richards, crossed for two tries as his side Wigan thrashed Castleford 46-4, while defending champions Leeds belted Widnes 44-16.