Saints moved safely into the quarter-finals of the Challenge Cup, holding off a late rally by Leeds Rhinos to secure their place in the last eight on Friday night (March 14).
Coming off the back of their first loss of the Super League season at home to Hull KR Saints were able to welcome Matty Lees back into the side. The England prop had missed the 20-10 defeat to Rovers with multiple vaguely unspecified knocks but was able to take his place in the starting lineup once more. That meant George Delaney dropped to the bench while the unfortunate Noah Stephens was the one to lose his place in the 17.
There was a good deal more pack shuffling by the visitors. With Matt Frawley out Head Coach Brad Arthur was no doubt grateful to have Lachlan Miller back at fullback. Jake Connor moved to the halves to replace Frawley alongside Brodie Croft. Ryan Hall returned on the wing. Morgan Gannon had to settle for a place among the interchanges as former Saint James Bentley moved from loose forward to second row. Keenan Palasia moved from prop to fill in at loose forward - if that can be described as a positional move - and Cooper Jenkins stepped up from the bench to start at prop beside Mikolaj Oledzki. Thomas Nicholson-Watton was included on the bench with Jarrod O’Connor out.
It was the Rhinos who posted the first points of the night. Saints were found guilty by referee Liam Moore of interfering with Harry Newman’s attempts to get up and play the ball quickly with his side in scoring position. You’d have to think that Saints’ still formidable defence had some influence over the decision to go for goal. Connor stepped up to land a fairly straightforward penalty goal and Leeds led 2-0.
We had to wait 25 minutes for Saints to hit back. Kyle Feldt notched the fourth try of his Saints career in all competitions. The winger was first to a Jonny Lomax bomb, batting it back to Joe Batchelor. The Saints back rower collected it on the bounce and was able to shuttle it underarm to Feldt who dived in at the corner.
The former North Queensland Cowboy might have had a fast start to his time with Saints in terms of try scoring but that opening four-pointer will be his last for a while. Feldt did not come off the field during the game but it has since been revealed that he sustained ligament damage to his hand which requires surgery. It means a three-month layoff for the man brought in to replace the ever dependable Tommy Makinson after he joined Catalans Dragons.
With fellow wing recruit Lewis Murphy also sidelined it means that two of Saints’ three major signings for 2025 are currently out of action. Not the sort of problem you need when a lack of pace has long been your most pressing concern when it comes to squad building. It might be the sort of bad juju that can get a Head Coach the sack.
With that in mind Batchelor’s exit from proceedings was another kick in Paul Wellens’ proverbials. Unlike Feldt Batchelor was not able to finish the game after he collided with Ash Handley’s shoulder during a routine carry. The Saints man was taken for an HIA from which he did not return. Not only did that put him out of the more than 50 minutes which remained of this one, it also means that he must sit out for the mandatory 11-day period and will miss the visit from Warrington Wolves this weekend. Not great news for anyone connected with Saints except Matt Whitley who replaced him. The former Widnes and Catalans man looks likely to do so from the start when visa hunting former union scapegoat Sam Burgess brings his troops to town.
Saints held a slender 6-2 lead at halftime which was extended seven minutes into the second half by Tristan Sailor. Saints’ last man standing among the new boys benefited from a searing break down the right flank by Harry Robertson. The youngster - operating at centre until Wellens figures out why in the world Konrad Hurrell was given another one-year deal - showed he could think like a three-quarter as he calmly found the supporting son of Wendell on his inside with an open run to the line. A second Mark Percival conversion had Saints feeling more comfortable at 12-2.
Five minutes later Whitley offered his pitch to be the man to replace Batchelor. Not only in this one or when Wire come calling this weekend but also for seasons beyond this one when Batchelor will join the black and whites of Hull FC. Another impending leaver set up the opportunity as Dolphins-bound Morgan Knowles’ perfectly timed short ball set Delaney off on what was possibly the longest run of his young career. He was brought down by the covering Leeds defence but quick thinking from Lomax enabled him to find Whitley outside him with the Rhinos having run out of defenders to retrieve the situation. Percival was not able to add the extras but at 16-2 it was difficult to see how Arthur’s men’s stay in the Challenge Cup was going to be anything but short.
Just 10 minutes on from Sailor’s try the home side added another. Three tries in 10 minutes more or less settled the outcome. It was exactly the sort of Saintsy burst of speed and skill which would often be enough to see off opponents when I started watching the team in the 1980s. The mind tends to think of those games as being thoroughly scintillating performances for the whole 80 minutes but in truth the memory filters out much of the garbage. On many occasions an otherwise iffy performance like this one would be lit up by a decisive patch of purple.
The latest score belonged to Robertson and again it showcased his undoubted natural ability and talent. Sailor placed a low kick towards the Leeds in-goal which bounced up perfectly around the try line for Robertson to get there first. Yet he still had Newman and Miller to contend with. Beautifully, he was able to spin away from both to touch down to the right of the posts.
The youngster now has eight tries in 15 appearances for the first team since making his debut in a 16-12 defeat at Wigan in July last year. You get the sense there’ll be many more. Robertson tries that is. Not defeats to Wigan. Heck, they can’t even beat Hull FC with a 16-point start. Percival converted once more meaning Saints had scored 16 points in not much more than 20 minutes to lead 22-2.
If Saints’ triple salvo was quick it was followed by a brisk response from the Rhinos. Five minutes after the Robertson pirouette Handley bagged his side’s first try of the night. Just as Sailor had created Robertson’s effort with a low kick so Connor returned serve to assist Handley. Ice skating manoeuvres were not necessary as the Leeds man collected the kick and fell across the line despite the attentions of two Saints defenders. Connor’s second goal of the night reduced the arrears to 14 at 22-8. Yet with little more than 12 minutes remaining a comeback remained unlikely.
Still it wasn’t a great time to lose Percival. Though they were still massively up against it Leeds will have been heartened by the departure of the Saints centre. It meant another positional move for Whitley too. But the main concern was whether Percival would now be ruled out of the Warrington game. Fortunately he has been named in Wellens’ 21-man squad for that one so all seems ok.
But any injury suffered by the 30 year-old serves as a reminder that Saints are highly unlikely to get a full season out of him for however long he is around. His own disregard for his personal safety is a part of the reason why he has suffered so often with injury but Saints’ philosophy of having the backs do the hard yards early in the tackle count over the course of Percival’s career has also been a major contributor.
Whatever the reason for Percival’s fragility it is what it is and makes a mockery of the decision to hand Hurrell that one-year deal. Now 33, Hurrell is currently plying his trade on loan to Halifax Panthers in the Championship. A troublesome neck/back injury ruled the Tongan out of the final three months of last season.
Even then there was much nattering about whether he was capable of playing in Super League again, so why the new deal? His only appearance for Saints in 2025 was against the amateurs of West Hull in an earlier round of the Challenge Cup. It’s quite bonkers and even more so in the context of Percival’s fragility. Robertson’s adaptability is all that stands between us and a heavy dose of Ben Davies. There’s Jonny Vaughan, but since he’s agreed to join Wigan next year I’d be reluctant to let him play for my team if I was Wellens. But I’m petty like that.
After that flurry of points scoring both sides went back to misfiring in attack. Connor tried to find a wide open Riley Lumb close to Saints’ line but only succeeded in finding the front row of the north stand. For their part Saints were ending sets sloppily. On one occasion Jake Wingfield found himself with no option but to take on the last tackle kicking duties. His effort went predictably dead.
Eventually Saints stopped kicking on the last altogether, preferring instead to hand it over as close to the Leeds line as possible. Make them go 100 metres to beat you. It’s a tactically reasonable idea when you’re protecting a three score lead against an opponent which has proven itself capable only of aspiring to mediocrity. Yet from an aesthetic point of view it is the kind of anti-rugby that got Wattoball kiboshed in Huddersfield. Even they’d had enough.
The brightest moment in attack for Saints in the final stages was the 40/20 executed by Jack Welsby. Amid much criticism of their territorial kicking game to start the season Saints have tellingly not managed a single 40/20 across the first four rounds of Super League. League leaders in the category Salford only have three so the skill is not that common. But it would be nice to see a few more from those wearing the red vee. As an aside, the Red Devils may find that their tally dries up also now that Marc Sneyd is in Warrington. He has all three of Paul Rowley’s side’s efforts to this point.
There were just three minutes left when Leeds delivered their last act of defiance in defeat. Newman had been a nuisance all night and finally got the try that his industry arguably deserved. Picking it up from Croft 20 metres out he sprinted on an out to in line to breeze past Whitley and ground the ball before Jon Bennison could stop him. Another Connor goal got Leeds to within eight at 22-14 but time was always going to beat them. Leeds’ five-year wait for a 15th Challenge Cup goes on.
Saints march on but the last eight draw pairs them with this week’s opponents Warrington. Wellens’ side will travel to the HJ on April 6. It will be the second of three meetings in a five week period between the two. And for once it’s the cup draw and not loop fixtures to blame for this impending over familiarity. Without Feldt and Batchelor, Wellens has called up Davies, halfback George Whitby and Dayon Sambou. The latter will make his competitive debut if he features.
I guess Wellens doesn’t hold the kind of grudges I do after all…
Saints: Welsby, Feldt, Robertson, Percival, Bennison, Lomax, Sailor, Walmsley, Clark, Lees, Batchelor, Sironen, Knowles. Interchanges: Delaney, Wingfield, Paasi, Whitley.
Rhinos: Miller, Hall, Newman, Handley, Lumb, Connor, Croft, Oledzki, Ackers, Jenkins, Bentley, McDonnell, Palasi. Interchanges: Lisone, Nicholson-Watton, Gannon, Sinfield
Referee: Liam Moore
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