Saints now hold a four-point lead at the top of the Betfred Super League after a fairly comfortable 28-14 victory over Toulouse Olympique at the Stade Ernest Wallon on Saturday (June 4).
Neither Saints fans nor those of their rivals had forgotten the champions last visit to Toulouse. They were humbled 22-20 in March in what remains one of only two league wins picked up so far by the French side since their promotion from the Championship. That jolt to the pride of Kristian Woolf’s outfit was met with plenty of dark muttering about preparation and attitude, with many feeling that the decision to travel on the day was evidence of complacency. So as well as the opportunity to stretch their lead at the top following Catalans Dragons’ loss to Huddersfield Giants, Saints travelled on the eve of the game with perhaps a score to settle.
Woolf will have been a relieved man to finally be able to call on the services of Regan Grace and Will Hopoate. Grace was making only his second appearance of an injury-hit year, further complicated by unceasing speculation about his future. Every non appearance from the Welsh flyer fuelled more chit-chat about the circling of rugby union vultures. Meanwhile Hopoate - who only arrived for the start of 2022 from Canterbury Bulldogs - was turning out for only the sixth time this season and the first in over five weeks following persistent injury problems.
Even with Mark Percival absent the return of Grace and Hopoate gave Saints a better balance. Hopoate slotted in at fullback, allowing Jack Welsby and Jonny Lomax to combine in the halves. Tellingly, there was no hiding Lomax at fullback defensively this week, which may suggest a little more durability around that bicep injury that has been troubling him of late. Mata’utia retained the role at left centre which he filled at Warrington when Percival played on the left wing. That meant Ben Davies missed out for the first time since Easter Monday.
Another very significant if rather more obvious and predictable selection was that of James Roby. The captain played his 454th Super League game, equalling the record set by former Leeds Rhinos star Kevin Sinfield. This coming Sunday’s visit from Hull KR (June 12) should see Roby move out on his own as the top Super League appearance maker since the competition’s inception in 1996. About three of those 454 so far have been seven out of 10 performances, with the other 451 somewhat higher. For all that the likes of me moan about how the salary cap has driven down standards Roby has proven immune to that criticism. He is one of very few genuine all-time greats still running around Super League in 2022.
Toulouse had three former Saints in their 17. Dom Peyroux and Andrew Dixon started in the pack while Joseph Paulo came off the bench. There were a clutch of ex-Wiganers too with Chris Hankinson, Romain Navarette, Matty Russell and Harrison Hansen all included.
While this wasn’t a Saints performance to go down in folklore it looked much more cohesive in attack than has often been the case in recent weeks. Woolf has struggled to solve the conundrum of Lewis Dodd’s absence and has been further hampered by key injuries. Hopoate may not have the creativity or guile of Welsby or his predecessors Lachlan Coote and Ben Barba but he looked a perfectly serviceable option for the way that Woolf wants to play. That third playmaker from fullback has become ever more prevalent in the modern game and Hopoate handled it well enough. He had one try assist and was deprived of another when his scoring pass to Konrad Hurrell was somehow deemed forward.
Hopoate was also excellent at returning kicks. Lucas Albert and Corey Norman persistently pounded the ball downfield towards him but he always made good headway. Overall he ripped off 160 metres on 17 carries. Only Grace managed more on either side. The winger was also outstanding, gaining 169 metres on 14 carries with a try and a couple of clean breaks. Keeping this pair fit could be a big key to helping Woolf overcome the Dodd predicament.
Early on there were signs of the struggles that Saints have had in attack recently. Their first opportunity was spurned when Morgan Knowles spilled possession after Toulouse had been caught offside. That was compounded when French referee Geoffrey Poumes - in action due to Liam Moore’s travel problems - awarded a set restart to the home side. It came to nothing but Saints next set indicated more rustiness as Welsby was caught in possession on the last play.
Poor last plays have plagued Saints since Dodd went down and Lomax got hurt. They would reappear again in this one from time to time. There is still work to be done in that area. Discipline also was a serious issue in this one. Woolf’s side were hammered 12-4 in the penalty count. The first of these saw Joe Batchelor pinged for interference at the play-the-ball. It was within kicking range and Hankinson put Toulouse 2-0 in front.
Saints soon struck back, and it was Knowles making up for his earlier error to grab his first try in Super League in 2022 and his first since Saints’ last visit to France - the Challenge Cup win over the Dragons in early April. It was the Cumbrian’s 26th four-pointer in 163 Saints appearances and came when he took a beautiful short ball from Welsby and showed decent speed to just about hold off Olly Ashall-Bott. The former Widnes and Huddersfield man almost halted Knowles but rather fell off the tackle as the Saints loose forward’s greater physical strength told. Tommy Makinson could not convert but Saints led 4-2.
Another set ended poorly when Welsby’s kick was easily diffused in-goal by the over-worked Ashall-Bott. Not that Toulouse were flawless in that department either. In their next possession the recently acquired former Parramatta Eels, New Zealand Warriors and St George-Illawarra Dragons prop Daniel Alvaro found himself caught on the last, turning the ball over to Saints in reasonable field position. A good link up between Welsby, Lomax and Mata’utia allowed Grace to surge to within 20 metres of the Toulouse line. From there Knowles almost bagged his second, dragged down just five metres short. The reprieve was temporary as Roby and Lomax linked up with Hopoate who gave Makinson a simple walk-in at the right hand corner.
It was Makinson’s 15th try of the Super League season making him the outright leader in the competition. All of which is just reward for the industry and consistency he has shown over recent seasons while others have taken on more of the individual glory. That industry remains - Makinson chewed up another 101 metres here and has 1922 for the season. Only Leeds Rhinos’ Ash Handley has more throughout Super League. Makinson’s return to try-scoring form is another element which gives the Saints attack more balance particularly if Grace is now set for a run in the side. The England winger is also the third highest goal scorer in Super League this year but missed out this time as Saints had to settle for an 8-2 lead.
Toulouse had a chance to hit back when a Curtis Sironen error was followed by the concession of another penalty. Sylvain Houles’ side got to within 20 metres of the Saints line but Ashall-Bott’s attempted wide ball to Russell missed its target and rolled tamely into touch. Sironen’s error was one of only eight by Saints on the night, some way short of their season’s average of almost 12 per game coming in. No side has made more than Saints’ 163 errors in Super League this season. But then that happens if you dominate possession. Woolf would probably say it needs cleaning up just a bit.
Hansen and Mata’utia both suffered head knocks in the next phase of the game but happily both would return after passing assessments. When the game settled down again Ashall-Bott flapped at a high ball from Lomax to allow Roby possession 20 metres out. Lomax got involved again, dinking into the in-goal for Welsby to chase but he was beaten to it by a combination of Russell and a recovering Ashall-Bott. Frustratingly, Saints missed out on launching a further assault from a goal-line dropout as Welsby was adjudged to have been in front of the kicker.
When Saints eventually did stretch the lead the record-equalling Roby was involved again. He attacked the short side from dummy half before finding Lomax who put Hurrell through a hole in the home rearguard. Hurrell went 45 metres untouched for his third try of the campaign. There was no mistake with the boot this time from Makinson and Saints looked comfortable at this point at 14-2 up.
Ashall-Bott continued to be a threat, almost narrowing the arrears as he broke 60 metres downfield from dummy half only to be stopped five short by Welsby and Makinson. Back-to-back penalties against Saints followed putting them under severe pressure. Even more so when Hankinson’s kick to the in-goal proved just too strong for Russell but was adjudged to have been knocked dead by a Saints player for a dropout and potentially six more cracks at the line for the league’s bottom club. They couldn’t take advantage. As they swept the ball to the right winger Ilias Bergal was taken into touch short of the line by Welsby on the last meaningful play of the first half.
Ashall-Bott was far and away Toulouse’s biggest threat with ball in hand. He ended the day with 153 metres to his name - albeit helped significantly by that 60-metre jaunt just before the break. Only Russell joined Ashall-Bott over the 100 barrier among the home ranks, a lack of go-forward which is testament to another solid defensive performance from Saints but perhaps also indicative of why Toulouse have struggled so much in their first three months in the top flight.
Nevertheless they threatened to make a game of it when they were first to cross the try line in the second half. Dixon was stopped short on the left but on the next play Norman and Paulo combined to put Hansen in just to the right of the posts despite the attentions of Hopoate. Hankinson, who had earned the penalty which set up the position for that opportunity, landed the conversion to drag the hosts back within six at 14-8.
Any momentum gained by the Super League new boys was almost lost straight away. An error at the play-the-ball by Justin Sangare gifted possession to Saints just 15 metres out. However, Saints could not take advantage as Hopoate’s attacking grubber trickled harmlessly dead. The scourge that is the last tackle play then reappeared, this time Grace caught on tackle six just 10 metres out after Mata’utia had put the winger in space. Saints were creating chances but having a hard time putting Houles’ team away.
The next try was always going to be pivotal at that point. Batchelor went a long way to ensuring it wasn’t going to be Toulouse who scored it when he intercepted Peyroux’s offload inside Saints’ 10 metre line. That enabled Saints to go close to striking the knockout blow, Roby breaking from half way and handing on to Joey Lussick who was halted just short. From there Saints shifted it right through Batchelor, Roby, Lomax, James Bell and Hopoate. The latter’s pass found Hurrell for a stroll over. However, the pass from Bell to Hopoate was called forward by Poumes. Admittedly I have only seen it on a TV screen but despite several such viewings it remains a head-scratcher.
So too does the pass from Hurrell to Makinson which was pulled up by Poumes soon after. Grace and Sironen set it up with probing runs before Roby again used the short side to allow Hurrell to put Makinson over. Yet like the fate of the former Leeds Rhino moments earlier it was not to be a double for recently named Super League Player Of The Month Makinson.
The arguably game-clinching score only arrived when Bergal came up with a crucial error at the play-the-ball in the shadow of his own posts. Lussick picked up from the scrum and found Lomax who handed on to Welsby. He brilliantly used Makinson as a decoy on his outside and sliced through to put Saints almost out of reach. Makinson’s second conversion meant that at 20-8 down Toulouse would need to score two converted tries to even force golden point extra time.
In fairness to Houles’ side they did not accept their fate. In fact it was their willingness to chance their arm which contributed to their ultimate downfall. A stray offload was pounced on by Grace who streaked away to score his first try of 2022. It was his 86th in Saints colours. They have arrived in 135 appearances. A strike rate of almost two tries every three games. How many more will we see if the whispers about a code switch have any merit in them? Best not to think about it until we have to, maybe. A third Makinson conversion put Saints in the comfort zone at 26-8.
It was not the end of the scoring though as a defiant Toulouse crossed for their second try and - as it turned out - the last four-pointer of the game. Albert, Norman, Ashall-Bott and Dixon were all involved before Hankinson stepped neatly inside the cover to score. The former Wigan Warrior converted it himself to reduce the arrears to 26-14 and bring his own personal points tally to 10 for the night.
Makinson then missed one opportunity to add two further points but made no mistake when Ashall Bott was penalised bang in front. Bell had broken through the line but held on despite having Lussick in support. Ashall-Bott was the man who brought Bell down but was too eager to stop the pass from the resultant play-the-ball. Makinson couldn’t miss and any remaining doubt about the result was removed as Saints stretched the lead to 28-14.
The game ended with Toulouse in possession inside the Saints half and still seeking consolation points. Saints soaked up the pressure - grounding Ashall-Bott as time ran out despite having conceded repeat sets following penalties as Alex Walmsley, Bell and Sironen all transgressed.
Indiscipline was an unwanted feature of Saints’ display. Along with the ugly penalty count Mata’utia will sit out the matches with Hull KR and Leeds Rhinos in the coming weeks after being found guilty by the Match Review Panel of hitting Albert after the former Dragons half had passed the ball. It is the former Newcastle Knight’s second such ban of 2022. Mata’utia has been impressive since arriving from the NRL club. If he can steer clear of the injuries and silly suspensions which have limited him to nine league appearances this season there are scarcely any limits to the success he could enjoy as long as he stays. He’s a bloke we need on the field and not in the stands.
Aside from Grace, Makinson and Hopoate the other Saint to top 100 metres was Walmsley. Some things don’t change whatever else is going on around this team. Defensively only Roby (32) and Knowles (30) were required to top 30 tackles. Anthony Marion - operating at hooker for Toulouse - was the game’s leading defender with 34 tackles while ex-Saint and Grand Final winner Peyroux chipped in with 30. Offensively Toulouse managed 10 offloads to Saints’ relatively meagre four but Woolf’s side were far more penetrative with nine clean breaks to four.
The way the fixtures fall this week - with Saints venturing into their annual experiment with Sunday afternoon home games - means that Woolf’s side will get to sit back and watch nearest rivals Catalans and Wigan try to keep pace before taking to the field against Hull KR. Following the major setback of the Dodd injury and the agony of the Challenge Cup exit, Saints may just be in the best shape they have been in since before Easter.
Toulouse: Ashall-Bott, Bergal, Hankinson, Jussaume, Russell, Norman, Albert, Navarrete, Marion, Alvaro, Dixon, Peyroux, Puech. Interchanges: Paulo, Cunningham, Sangare, Hansen
Saints: Hopoate, Makinson, Hurrell, Mata’utia, Grace, Welsby, Lomax, Walmsley, Roby, Lees, Sironen, Batchelor, Knowles. Interchanges: Lussick, Paasi, McCarthy-Scarsbrook, Bell
Referee: Geoffrey Poumes
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