SAM Burgess was pleased with Warrington Wolves’ improvement in the second half of their victory over Castleford Tigers in Super League Round 23.

The Wire led 8-0 at the break after a superb solo try from Cai Taylor-Wray plus two Josh Thewlis goals.

John Bateman extended The Wire’s lead early in the second half and after Luke Hooley responded with a score for Cas further tries from Matty Nicholson, Matty Ashton and Josh Thewlis ensured two points were in the bag to cement the team’s place in the play-offs.

Leeds-born Taylor-Wray, 18, was handed his second Super League start at full-back in the absence of the injured Matt Dufty and caught the eye, so much so that Wire fans were chanting his name as they left the Mend-A-Hose Jungle.

“I thought Cai was good. He took his moments quite well and finished his try well,” said Burgess, who flew back into Manchester from Australia earlier in the day following his NRL Hall of Fame induction ceremony attendance in Sydney on Wednesday.

“He did a good job and we knew he was capable of doing that. He’s been doing it all year in the reserves and the academy. We were pleased for him.”

Although it was an option to switch Josh Thewlis from the wing to full-back, Burgess confirmed they had faith in the England Academy International to step up to the plate.

“It was an easy decision to select Cai, a no-brainer,” said Burgess.

“We’ve got a lot of trust in Cai and we know what he can bring.

“We just try and make a straight swap so if the full-back’s out we put a full-back in, rather than moving Josh Thewlis. It just worked for us.

“He played against Wigan the week before the Challenge Cup Final and he did a really solid job then.

“He’s a talented little player so we’re trying to expose him as much as we can.

“I guess if there’s a positive out of the Dufty situation it means Cai will get a good solid bunch of games together alongside Danny Walker, George Williams, Josh Drinkwater and Sam Powell, so it’ll only be good for his development.”

Speaking about the display in general, Burgess said: “I thought it was a good team performance.

“Castleford came at us pretty hard. It was a solid game and some of our basic skills weren’t where they needed to be in the first half but we worked hard for each other and defended well.

“It wasn’t an easy victory and I was proud of all the players because it’s been a different week with me being away, we lost Matt Dufty early in the week and my coaches really stepped up and the players stepped up.

“I think we missed a couple of opportunities, but they know what works for them as a group and they’re solving problems on the run as a group which is nice but they just knew in the first half we weren’t where we needed to be so they definitely tidied that up in the second half. It was a much better performance.”

After his short trip to Australia and getting back in time for the match Burgess was pleased to see his side get the win.

“I’m glad we got the two points, I’m happy with that,” he said.

“I was never going to miss a game, so it was always going to be tight on the way back.

“But I landed at 1.30pm today so I had plenty of time to get across “I’m just thankful the team got the two points otherwise it would have made me feel a bit more tired.”