Saints made it through to a fourth Challenge Cup semi-final in five seasons with an impressive display at the home of the Catalans Dragons on Saturday (April 9).
A repeat of the 2021 Super League Grand Final was the draw that neither side really wanted but it was again Saints who came out on the right end of the scoreline. In many ways this was a much more dominant display than the one at Old Trafford in October. Saints ran in six tries to the Dragons four and were able to pull even further clear thanks to Tommy Makinson’s six goals from seven attempts.
The first of these opened the scoring with a Makinson penalty goal as the Dragons were caught offside just three minutes in. It was a lead that Kristian Woolf’s side would relinquish 13 minutes later as the outstanding Josh Drinkwater linked up with Sam Tomkins and Tyrone May to put Fouad Yaha over in the left hand corner. Tomkins could not add the extras which left the French side clinging to a slim advantage at 4-2.
The next 10 minutes was a period which swung the game irreversibly Saints way. The champions and Challenge Cup holders blitzed the Dragons with a dazzling spell of running rugby which yielded three tries virtually before Steve McNamara’s side had time to register what was happening. It was a real purple patch which evoked memories of the free-flowing style which many of us grew up on. If Saints can ally this kind of skill and speed to the ruthlessness and defensive solidity which have become hallmarks of Woolf’s tenure they are going to be very difficult to beat in league or cup.
The first blow in this decisive period was struck by Jack Welsby on 20 minutes. The fullback found Will Hopoate in space on the right flank and was on hand to take the return pass from the ex-Canterbury Bulldog to score under the posts. Makinson’s second goal of the day put Saints back in front at 8-4. This time was a lead they would not surrender.
Barely three minutes later Welsby was involved again in what was arguably an even more dazzling score. The move began with Alex Walmsley, who punched a big hole in the Dragons defence to allow Jonny Lomax quick ball with which to find Curtis Sironen. The Australian’s Saintly offload inside to Welsby had the Dragons defence in tatters, before the fullback moved the ball inside to Lewis Dodd. Dodd stepped beautifully inside the last defender for a score that was highly complex but which looked ridiculously easy. It was Dodd’s 13th try for Saints on his 33rd appearance and showed exactly why there has been a buzz about his potential since he was running around for the reserves awaiting a first team chance. Another Makinson goal gave Saints clear breathing space at 14-4.
Having missed Saints last three games Walmsley again showed his value with his powerful runs, punishing defence and quiet pack leadership. Meanwhile Sironen continues to be a somewhat schizophrenic presence. His offloading game is one that fits perfectly with the finest traditions of the club. Yet he proved when getting himself sin-binned for what the disciplinary deemed a careless tackle on Benjamin Garcia that there is a darker side to his game, one probably more born of a lack of subtlety and clear thinking than of outright malice. The former Manly man has already missed the win at Hull KR in March through suspension and dodged another when a further charge resulted in a zero game penalty notice, the disciplinary’s way of telling players not to do that again. Unfortunately Sironen did not heed the warning and was not only yellow carded for the challenge but will also now miss the Good Friday derby with Wigan.
A few moments before Sironen’s untimely exit Saints hit Catalan with another telling blow. James Roby and Lomax combined to put Mark Percival in space on his favoured left channel and he charged through the flimsy turnstile defending of Joe Chan and Arthur Romano. It was Percival’s sixth try of the season in all competitions and the 105th of his Saints career since his debut nine years ago. Hard to believe that a man still a couple of weeks short of his 28th birthday is rapidly approaching eligibility for a testimonial. He must have thought Chan and Romano had already entered into the testimonial spirit such was the lack of conviction in their attempts to halt him. Another successful Makinson conversion put Saints firmly in command at 20-4.
As Sironen was trudging off following his indiscretion so too was Catalans talisman and Man Of Steel Tomkins. Clearly the ex-Wigan man is a huge loss and if McNamara wants to look for excuses he could point to Tomkins’ absence as mitigation for his side’s failure to really get back in the game. Tomkins would not be ruled out of the game for another 15 minutes of playing time, during which the Dragons’ medical staff optimistically tried to prod and massage his ageing body back into some kind of serviceable condition. That they could not do so offered an opportunity to Arthur Mourgue, who is one of the more exciting young players in Super League right now. It was Mourgue’s first game of the year after a couple of months out with injury but whatever the Dragons lost in terms of Tomkins’ nous and experience they lost nothing in terms of flair and imagination.
Just a minute after being reduced to 12 men Saints conceded. Playing a man light is some mitigation but the ease with which Gil Dudson powered over from close range from Micky McIlorum’s short ball was still fairly startling given the tightness of Saints’ defence so far in 2022. Mourgue’s conversion reduced the arrears to 20-10. Had Yaha not dropped Mourgue’s incisive pass with the line seemingly wide open a few minutes before the break the Dragons could have really exerted some scoreboard pressure. It was as close as McNamara’s men would get, and always looked like being a pivotal moment which would cost the Dragons any chance they had of hauling themselves back into the game.
That point was hammered home four minutes into the second a half. A good break by Batchelor led to Percival being hauled down just short of the line. From there Morgan Knowles plundered a try from dummy half that was as easy as the one Dudson had scored earlier. As Makinson goaled to push Saints’ advantage out to 26-10 the news came through that Tomkins would not be returning. This is not a Saints side given to losing 16-point advantages despite the outlier of what happened to them against the same opponents at Newcastle in September. If you are trying to overturn that kind of deficit without your talisman the task becomes nigh on impossible.
Perhaps if Percival had been sat down for 10 minutes by referee Chris Kendall for a very iffy looking high shot on Romano that Catalans may have been offered some hope. It was the sort of challenge which would have earned Percival a rest in the early weeks of the season but which is now deemed perfectly acceptable once more. The Dragons did score next however, Yaha with nothing more than an act of defiance as he took a great pass by Drinkwater to go over for his second score of the afternoon. Another Mourgue conversion later the gap was back to 10 points at 26-16.
The Dragons had a hand in the score which pretty much left them warming up old cliches about concentrating on the league. Just three minutes after Yaha’s score the Dragons coughed up possession in their own half, compounding the error with the concession of a set restart. That position allowed Dan Norman to go over from short range after Sam Kasiano was guilty of an absurd over read of Joey Lussick’s intentions. The former Salford and Parramatta man is no doubt capable of the sort of looping long ball which Kasiano appeared to be expecting but instead kept it simple with a short pass which presented Norman with his third try in his last four appearances. Makinson’s fifth conversion of the day gave Saints a healthy looking 32-16 advantage going into the final quarter.
With Sironen out and Sione Mata’utia still injured Joe Batchelor will be a key figure for Saints when Wigan come to town at Easter. He showed his increasing quality again with the final Saints try of the game, charging through some questionable, perhaps tired defending before executing a clinical and quite improbable grounding. It was only his second try of the season and only his fifth in 38 appearances in the red vee. Yet it is the unseen things which make Batchelor a vital cog in this machine. You’d have to think he will be the first name on the team sheet for the Wigan game given the absences in that second row position. It is for Woolf to decide who partners Batchelor in that area. He could move Knowles from his 13 spot and fill that with Louie McCarthy-Scarsbrook or James Bell. Alternatively, Jake Wingfield could be available again after a head knock ruled him out of this one, while Sam Royle has not let anybody down in his burgeoning career and could be offered a chance in the biggest game of the season outside of knockout football. Makinson’s sixth and final goal of the day pushed Saints out to a 36-16 lead.
The scoreline could have had some real gloss on it if Sironen’s try-scoring effort had not been preceded by a knock-on by Walmsley in the build-up. As it was the Dragons made the final impression on the scoreboard when Tom Davies went over late on. Again Drinkwater was involved, moving the ball out to the right for the ex-Wigan man to touch down in the corner. Mourgue could not convert but by then the argument was already over. Saints had come through what always looked a difficult away draw and advanced to the last four again.
On the subject of tricky draws, the Super League threepeaters will now face Wigan in that semi-final on the neutral territory of Leeds United’s Elland Road on May 7. With either Huddersfield or Hull KR awaiting in the final at Tottenham three weeks later you can expect the winner of the Saints-Wigan semi-final to be installed as a big favourite to claim the trophy. Not that it needs it but Friday afternoon’s league meeting between the two local rivals now arguably has another dimension to it. For Saints an opportunity to demonstrate the superiority which most observers suspect they still have not only over Wigan but over the rest of the competition. For Wigan a chance to show that they are for real and can beat last year’s double winners.
I’ll believe them when I see it.
Catalans Dragons: Tomkins, Davies, Romano, May, Yaha, Pearce, Drinkwater, Dudson, McIlorum, Napa, McMeeken, Garcia, Julien. Interchanges: Mourgue, Dezaria, Chan, Kasiano
St Helens: Welsby, Hopoate, Hurrell, Percival, Makinson, Lomax, Dodd, Walsmsley, Roby, Lees, Batchelor, Sironen, Knowles. Interchanges: Lussick, McCarthy-Scarsbrook, Paasi, Norman
Referee: Chris Kendall.
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