Disappointment, desolation, annoyance, acrimony. All these emotions and a fair degree of incredulity and bewilderment are still present 48 hours on from Saints’ 20-18 Challenge Cup semi-final defeat to Wigan on Saturday (May 7).
On some level my hubris is probably to blame. In the preview on these pages I simply did not entertain the possibility of defeat. While all other Saints fans around me seemed to be in a state of panic and wondering where we could find an international halfback at short notice, I had every reason to believe that Saints defence was so good that it wouldn’t really matter if they didn’t score very many points. Maybe I was trying to convince myself as much as anyone else.
My preview also suggested that it would be a bit too bold for coach Kristian Woolf to select Ben Davies in the halves should Jonny Lomax not recover from a bicep injury in time. Imagine my surprise then when the team news dropped to find that not only was Lomax deemed fit to start but that Davies would be in the halves alongside him anyway.
I suspect a key factor in Woolf’s selection was the continued unavailability of Regan Grace. Grace has long been the subject of much talk about a long awaited comeback that has yet to materialise. Like Oasis. Had Grace been fit it might have tempted Woolf to switch Tommy Makinson to fullback and allow Jack Welsby to partner Lomax in the halves.
In the event Lomax spent much of his time at fullback while Welsby and Davies tried to make a go of an all new halfback pairing. Its hindsight genius now but I would question whether Davies - who is normally a centre and who had played only one of his previous four first team appearances at stand-off - was the right choice for a game of this magnitude. Three of those appearances had been in teams deliberately weakened by Woolf to save his regular starters for bigger tasks ahead. Three of Davies’ four appearances before this one had been against Salford. Which is just plain weird. What it also tells you is that - fine prospect though he is (and he didn’t let himself down here) - Davies had zero big game experience coming in to this one. His selection was what I would politely term a gamble by Woolf.
Meanwhile the decision to move Lomax to fullback calls into question whether he truly was fully fit. Welsby has been playing that role all season so it would have made sense for him to continue and let the more experienced Lomax guide Davies around in the halves. You can only conclude that Woolf did not want Lomax being targeted in the defensive line. Wigan would certainly have run at him - especially early on to test out his fitness. That Woolf felt the need to spare Lomax that test suggests that the England man was not 100% fit. Arguably then his selection was another throw of the dice by Woolf.
Konrad Hurrell came back from suspension to slot into the centres with Mark Percival and Josh Simm occupying the left wing slot. Up front Saints were about as strong as they can be, with Alex Walmsley and Matty Lees at prop, James Roby at hooker and Sione Mata’utia returning to partner Joe Batchelor in the second row ahead of loose forward Morgan Knowles. Curtis Sironen returned from his latest ban to earn a place on the bench alongside Louie McCarthy-Scarsbrook, Agnatius Paasi and Joey Lussick.
There was an early sign that things might not go our way when Wigan’s first set ended in a Saints error. Wigan halfback Harry Smith - in the side in the continuing absence of Tommy Leuluai - sent a regulation kick downfield which somehow squirmed through the waiting arms of Simm. The winger’s error was picked up by Liam Byrne and Wigan went in front on that subsequent possession. John Bateman’s errant pass hit the ground before it was collected by Liam Farrell who quickly shifted it on to Jake Bibby. Hurrell had shot out of the line to try to shut down Farrell, an act of recklessness which left Welsby isolated. Bibby got on the outside of the Saints man before feeding Liam Marshall who squeezed over in the left corner.
Immediately thoughts turned to that early sitter that Farrell and Bibby managed to butcher between them when the teams met on Good Friday. This time they had been clinical and taken their opportunity. Smith could not tag on the extra two points but the Warriors had drawn first blood to lead 4-0. Only one Saints player had touched the ball at this point - and Simm didn’t have it in his grasp for very long.
Byrne soon returned the favour and lost the ball in a tackle by Mata’utia and Knowles. That set Saints up with good ball inside the Wigan half and after a good drive by Walmsley referee James Child awarded a penalty when Bateman caught Knowles high. It was in a very kickable position just about 20 metres out. There has been some suggestion - particularly in view of the eventual margin of Wigan’s victory - that Saints should have taken the easy two points on offer. You can always make a case for taking points early in a game but by the same token Saints attack had been rolling forward pretty well on that set. No doubt they sensed a chance to go over for a try and potentially get in front on the scoreboard.
If Saints were feeling confident about crossing for a try then unfortunately that confidence was misplaced. Instead they produced the first of many poor last tackle plays in a first half riddled with them. Davies was caught in possession on the last by the tackle of Bateman and Brad Singleton. Optimists will point out that turning the ball over near to the Wigan line in search of a try is a perfectly valid tactical approach. Cynics will argue that the whole thing was accidental on account of Saints’ inability to get sufficiently organised to execute an attacking kick.
These disappointing ends to Saints possessions plagued their first half performance. Knowles also found himself held on the last later on in proceedings. On another occasion he found himself having to take responsibility for the kicking. His attempted grubber was only just too strong as it bobbled over the dead ball line but quite why he had to take on that role is a question worth asking. It’s not his game. Though he is often compared by fans he is not a traditional loose forward in the Paul Sculthorpe/Andy Farrell mould. There aren’t any left in Super League, particularly now that hookers and fullbacks take on more playmaking duties. For me that play showed a team struggling with its attacking rhythm.
Immediately after Davies was stopped to initiate the turnover Wigan were granted a set restart. Makinson came out of one challenge hobbling. We could ill afford to lose him given how much pack-shuffling Woolf had already carried out without Will Hopoate, Lewis Dodd and Grace. Fortunately the Saints winger appeared able to run off the injury eventually. Then it was Wigan’s turn to be caught in possession on the last, but only after Bevan French had managed to haul in Smith’s high boot downfield from well inside his own half. French was successfully surrounded by Simm, Davies and Percival.
Saints came close to opening their account through Hurrell. Marshall rushed Batchelor and nudged the ball out of his possession. It was seized upon by Welsby whose pass to Makinson was tipped on by the England winger to Hurrell in space on the right. Never one to opt for finesse if there is an option for brute force Hurrell tried to run over the top of Jai Field. Yet Field - often derided as a useless defender whose only asset is his ludicrous speed - managed to execute a text book try-saver on the Tongan international. Not only that but Hurrell lost the ball in the force of the impact.
The teams then traded mistakes. First Hurrell was unable to handle Lomax’s inside ball in decent field position before Cade Cust saw his pass shelled by Bateman in a similar position at the other end of the field. An error by Smith in the shadow of his own posts gifted Saints an opportunity. Yet again they managed to waste it, almost conceding a try at the other end when Welsby’s pass went behind its target and was picked up by French. He began tearing off in the other direction. French is one of the fastest players in Super League so it took some effort for Welsby to chase him down. It was like watching a cheetah hunting a gazelle as Welsby unbalanced his prey with a tap on the ankles before finishing him off just short of the line. Batchelor slid in to prevent any prospect of French reaching out to ground the ball but was promptly shown a yellow card for failing to release the Wigan man quickly enough.
It was a short reprieve in any case. Smith found Cust on the left and his fake to Bibby distracted Hurrell well enough to allow the Australian stand-off to get outside Roby to score. Smith again failed with the conversion but things were starting to look a little concerning as Wigan led 8-0. And Saints now had the prospect of playing with a man short for the best part of 10 minutes having just lost Batchelor to the sin-bin.
It was a spell which Saints survived pretty well after Cust’s try. The only minor alarm came when Smith hoisted a bomb towards the Wigan right flank but Iain Thornley could only bat it into touch. Though Batchelor was restored to the line-up almost immediately after that it took only two more minutes for Wigan to add to their lead.
Field found French in space only for Davies to bring the winger down 20 metres out. The play was then switched right to left through the hands of Smith and Cust to Farrell. Batchelor raced out to meet the Wigan veteran back rower in the style of Hurrell, succeeding only in opening up a massive gap in the middle of the defence. Walmsley and Welsby were shuttling across as the ball moved wide to Farrell and were unable to change direction as he scythed through untouched. Lomax slipping didn’t help either. It was a catalogue of defensive errors from Saints. A very uncharacteristic sequence of events and the sort of try you would least expect to see scored against the Super League’s best defence. Smith found the mark with the goal-kicking to stretch Wigan out to a 14-0 lead.
Wigan were very fortunate to receive another potential scoring opportunity straight away. Welsby’s restart was caught near the dead ball line by Cust who was ruled to have a foot on the line, so rendering the kick-off out on the full. That meant a penalty to Wigan on half way. The incident was apparently checked by the video referee Ben Thaler and ruled a correct call. Yet no TV angle proved conclusively that Cust’s foot was on the line when he caught the ball. If anything the TV evidence indicated that his foot was just inside the line. As it was it had to go down as another unforced and very avoidable error by Saints in what was becoming a nightmare first 40 minutes.
Despite the pressure Saints held firm when Thornley again failed to get control of a Smith bomb close to the Saints line. The cup holders were teetering on the brink but things looked up for them when they finally got a last tackle play right. Lomax aimed a kick skywards towards the Saints left edge. It was plucked out of the air by Percival who managed to drag both Bateman and Field a few yards closer to the try line but the Wigan pair got him to ground just in time.
Simm displayed more signs of nervousness and insecurity when he allowed another Smith territory finder to bounce and ended up having to collect and run it back from well inside his own 10 metre line. Simm had been given very little opportunity to attack with Saints favouring their right edge far more in attack, and had endured more than the odd wobble dealing with Smith’s kicking game.
He wasn’t the only winger making mistakes. Marshall was too eager to get up and play the ball close to his own posts and lost the ball in the process of regaining his feet. That gave Saints an opportunity and there was more pressure on the Wigan line when Cust stole the ball with Morgan Smithies also in the tackle. Saints again turned down an easy two points but at 14-0 down coming up to half-time you couldn’t fault the logic this time.
Yet again Saints’ attacking set was sloppy. Simm had to pick Welsby’s pass up off the ground while moments later the 2020 Grand Final hero was aiming a high ball to the right wing which Marshall dealt with. Saints had one more opportunity before the break but Davies’ attempted dab through the defensive line from close range was handled by Bateman. Trailing 14-0 at the break the only good news for Saints was that things had to go better in the second half.
The improvement wasn’t immediate. Though Lomax and Davies were able to combine to give Percival a rare running chance his attempted kick ahead was one you can file under ‘shank’ as it dribbled harmlessly into touch. Ending sets poorly was becoming the theme of the afternoon for the champions. Yet now they were at least putting themselves in decent positions before those disappointing last plays. Paasi was making a big impact off the bench, chewing up metres and dragging Saints downfield. One powerful surge was followed by a neat offload which allowed Roby to take Saints deep into Wigan territory. Welsby’s kick found Batchelor but he was halted by Cust. Appeals that a Wigan player had got a touch and that the tackle count should restart were ignored.
Eventually it was another Marshall error inside his own 20 metre area that opened the door for Saints to post their first points of the day. Roby, Davies and Lomax were all involved as the ball reached Hurrell wide on the right. Field could not stop the centre this time, not even with the help of Bibby and Marshall. The grounding was checked by the video referee but there were no issues and Saints were on the board. Makinson’s excellent touchline conversion offered a further boost as it cut the deficit to 14-6.
Three minutes later Saints were in again. Lomax produced a telling lob on the right edge of Saints attack. Makinson was able to tap it back inside and find Lomax with a free run to the line. Cust vociferously suggested to referee James Child that the Saints chasers had been offside from the kick but all the ex-Manly player got for his troubles was a telling off. Child declined to review the incident leaving Makinson free to land his second conversion. Suddenly Saints were back within two points at 14-12.
The pressure was all on Wigan now. Field spilled another Lomax bomb allowing Knowles to recover and start Saints’ next set just 10 metres out. Simm went close, stepping inside Thornley before he was brought down by Smith. Then it happened. Saints hit the front for the first time. Roby received Mata’utia’s dummy half pass and ran left, back towards where the pass had come from. Straightening up he had too much strength and nous for any of Field, Bateman or Smith to stop him. A third successful conversion put Saints four points up at 18-14 with less than 25 minutes remaining.
Batchelor threatened to set Saints up with more good field position but after he was first to a Davies kick the former York man had the ball stolen from him one on one by Field. When Saints were offside in the next set it was Wigan’s turn to be faced with a decision on whether to kick at goal or make Saints do some more tackling and perhaps score the try that would swing the game back in their favour. They chose to run it, but lost the opportunity when Cust came up with an error at the play-the-ball just a few metres from the Saints line.
Woolf opted for the fresh legs of Lussick and the former Salford man made an impact quickly. After Wigan were caught offside Lussick embarked on a 20 metre scoot which set Saints up with another chance to attack the line. Lomax fed Batchelor but as the back rower turned in the tackle and offloaded Lomax was caught slightly unaware and was unable to control the return pass. Child deemed it a knock-on although replays appeared to show that it had come off Lomax’s knee. It was an opportunity lost.
The pair went close to combining successfully again. Batchelor took possession after Simm had batted back Davies’ kick. Batchelor found Lomax but he lost control just five metres out in a solid tackle by French.
We hadn’t seen much of Wigan as an attacking force since half-time but they offered a reminder of their threat when Joe Shorrocks took Patrick Mago’s offload and put Farrell clear down the left edge. Having earlier caught French when he seemed certain to score, Welsby had little trouble hunting down the comparatively pedestrian Farrell. As he grabbed on to Farrell’s shirt the Wigan man tried to offload to the supporting Bateman but he could only get a hand to it on its way to the turf.
Having battled back into contention and established themselves firmly in the ascendency Saints hit the self destruct button. A penalty piggy-backed them into Wigan territory. A score at this point would have killed Wigan off. But a completed set and a good kick would still have put all the pressure on Matty Peet’s men. Lomax chose the former option with grave consequences. His pass went behind Sironen and in front of Welsby. It hit neither, bouncing kindly on the turf for Marshall who raced away to score under the posts. Welsby could not chase back this time. It was Marshall’s second try of the game and - with Smith’s conversion - put Wigan back in front at 20-18.
Personally I find it hard to be too critical of Lomax for trying to find the attacking play that would have finished the argument. That’s exactly how I want my team to play. I can’t berate them when they do it and it doesn’t quite come off. Others will disagree. There is a good argument that in a game of that importance - approaching the last 10 minutes with a slender lead - the game should be managed. That conservatism with a small ‘c’ is the way to go. No doubt Woolf will be in that camp and will be questioning what Lomax thought he saw in debriefing this week.
It also raises questions about whether Saints are learning from their mistakes. We are only a week on from Salford’s interception of a Welsby pass which would have cost Saints that game were it not for the miraculous intervention of Knowles. He who fails to learn from his mistakes is doomed to repeat them. Or something.
By now desperate and running out of time, Saints had no choice but to force the risky pass. First Welsby tried to flick the ball blindly back to Hurrell who could not gather it in. The concession of a set restart took valuable time away from Saints but they did have one more chance. Trying to keep it alive through Makinson, Roby and Mata’utia, Saints eventually shifted the ball to Hurrell via Sironen. Hurrell drew a crowd of defenders and - with his options decreasing - tried a desperate offload which rolled meekly into touch. A sad metaphor for the majority of Saints’ attacking play on the day. The focus will be on the needless Marshall interception try but Saints lost this game in the first half. They took too long to get going, consistently took poor options or came up with poor execution on the last tackle. And their normally watertight defence was strangely absent at key moments during a horrific opening 40.
As the old cliche goes it is time now to concentrate on the league. Or the Grand Final to be more accurate. But you have to do well in the league to have a reasonable chance to get to Old Trafford. Woolf has assured us that Lomax’s bicep injury cannot be made worse by playing and that he will continue to feature. Will Woolf continue to protect Lomax defensively by placing him at fullback? If he does, will Davies become a regular at 6? Or will Woolf deem the whole thing a very expensive failed experiment and revert to the Plan A of using Roby at 7?
Whichever way he goes things might be about to get tougher. Other teams and other coaches will have seen how Wigan pulled off this upset victory and they will try to emulate it. Saints’ crown isn’t slipping exactly, but there might be a sense after this game - and frankly after seeing how close Salford came to beating us last week - that the aura around this team is weakening. For really the first time in Woolf’s tenure there is maybe a belief throughout the league that Saints could be vulnerable - especially with their halfback problems.
All of which presents a test of Woolf’s mettle. He has certainly improved a team that was already miles ahead of the competition under Justin Holbrook. Can he now keep it at the top of the tree as events start to conspire against him and he has to find difficult solutions?
The first indication of how Saints will respond to this huge disappointment is this week’s visit of Hull FC. It could be a fascinating season. It just won’t be one that results in a second successive Super League and Challenge Cup double.
Wigan Warriors: Field, French, Bibby, Thornley, Marshall, Cust, Smith, Singleton, O’Neill, Byrne, Farrell, Bateman, Smithies. Interchanges: Mago, Ellis, Havard, Shorrocks
Saints: Lomax, Makinson, Hurrell, Percival, Simm, Davies, Welsby, Walmsley, Roby, Lees, Mata’utia, Batchelor, Knowles. Interchanges: Paasi, McCarthy-Scarsbrook, Sironen, Lussick
Referee: James Child
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