Wigan Warriors: Bevan French says scoring seven tries to break a Super League record in front of his family is something he'll 'cherish forever'

Bevan French says it was special to break the Super League record for most tries in a game in front of members of his family.
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The winger’s stepdad and uncle watched on as he went over seven times in Wigan Warriors’ 60-0 win over Hull FC.

French states he didn’t know anything about the record until he went over for the final one, before being taken off ahead of the hour-mark.

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He said: “It’s still sinking in with the Super League record and things like that.

Bevan French scored seven against Hull FCBevan French scored seven against Hull FC
Bevan French scored seven against Hull FC

“I didn’t find out about it until the last one, I didn’t have a clue. Obviously you don’t go into games thinking about it, you just want to do your job, but I’m very grateful I got there.

“I spoke to a few of the boys after the game, and to do it in front of the home fans at the DW, with some family over here, is something I will cherish forever.

“For them to have the opportunity to come over to another country, which is something they’ve never done before, the whole experience has been amazing.

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“They’ve loved every minute of it, not just tonight, but the whole thing in general, so I’m glad I could finish it good for them.

“We’ll have a toast and a couple of beers and start thinking about next week.

“I was pleased when Matty (Peet) took me off, we had a high intensity game last week and with a short turnaround coming up, you’ve got to look at things like that.

“In our team performance, I felt like we definitely learnt our lessons. It’s the best 80-minute performance we’ve had and something we have been striving for.

“It sounds cliche as a winger saying ‘all the work happens on the inside, and you’ve just got to finish it’ - but that’s literally what it was.

“If we didn’t learn our lessons from last week then we wouldn’t have been in a position to do it.

“I think how tight this squad is, we just have confidence across the whole park.

"If someone goes down in the squad, we are at the point where someone comes in and we know that they’ll do a job.

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“It’s credit to the coaching staff. It’s something they are striving for and you can definitely see the awards.

“With the people involved, they’re not just thinking about a title this year, it’s about reigning for quite a while.”

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The record French broke on Friday night was previously set by Lesley Vainikolo in 2005.

“I know he’s a completely different player to me,” he added.

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“I didn’t watch many of his games, but I know the name. To be honest I used him as a player on PlayStation rugby league.

“So to be amongst some of those people and be in that conversation is amazing.

Rugby is becoming quicker, with more points being scored when a team gets a roll on. If you look at some of the athletes, they can score out of nothing. So as much as I’d like the record to last for a long time, I don’t think it will.”

French says the reception Wigan get from their fans is something that motivates him every week.

“The support we get here is amazing,” he stated.

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“The fans are so passionate and are the best fans you could play in front of. It’s a crazy atmosphere and something I have never experienced before.

“Coming from the NRL, you get crowds and things like that, but they are so passionate over here.

“I’ll remember it for a long time.

“I want to try and sort next year out in the very near future. I’ve taken a backstep and allowed my manager to take control of the reins, so I’m sure he’ll do what’s best for me and we’ll take it from there.”