“He was brilliant” – Chris Satae hailed by Hull coach Brett Hodgson

The 28-year-old front-rower, who scored just two tries in his debut season in England in 2020, touched down in each half as the Black and Whites inflicted a first defeat of the campaign on Wigan, just nine days after losing to them in Super League.

Satae’s man of the match performance provided the backbone to an impressive performance by a Hull pack shorn of four specialist props due to injury and suspension.

Hodgson said: “Obviously we were a bit thin, with Brad Fash suspended and Scott Taylor, Josh Bowden and Masi Matongo injured, so we had to change the way we did things.

“I thought Chris Satae in particular was phenomenal. He was brilliant. He’s such a big body and he got our sets rolling.”

The surprise result enabled Hull to end a difficult week on a high and means Hodgson is just 80 minutes away from guiding Hull to a Wembley appearance in his first season as head coach.

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Hodgson revealed in midweek how his players rallied around second-rower Andre Savelio following his allegation of racial abuse which resulted in an eight-match ban for Wigan prop Tony Clubb.

Hodgson said: “I’m exceptionally pleased. We had quite a tumultuous week, obviously some adversity and we were tested but I am very happy with the response from the players, the way they stuck by each other.

“We spoke about creating a memory today that will allow us to get where we want to be.

“I’m so proud, particularly of the defensive performance. Wigan just don’t go away but I thought my boys enjoyed the grind and we were good enough to get the victory.

“We played in my opinion the second best team in the competition and we knew we would have to perform near our best. There was some improvement but there are still elements where we can improve.”