Sants v Hull KR - Preview

Threepeat champions Saints look to earn a fifth league win in a row when they take on Hull KR in a rare Sunday afternoon home outing (June 12, kick-off 3.00pm).

Last week’s 28-14 success in Toulouse was payback for one of only two league defeats in Saints’ opening 14 games. The only other blemish came at Castleford in April when coach Kristian Woolf chose to send an experimental side into The Jungle as his stars rested up from the Easter double header. That consistency over the season has translated to a four-point lead at the top of the table going into this weekend’s round of games, temporarily cut to two by Wigan’s stroll over Salford on Friday night (June 10).

Meanwhile Rovers have not quite kicked on from last season when they came within one game of making it all the way to Old Trafford and the Grand Final. Their campaign so far has had its disappointments to say the least. Tony Smith’s side failed to win any of their opening two league games against Wigan and Huddersfield. Their first win came against Castleford in Round 3, but the manner of their 32-0 shellacking by the Tigers in mid-May illustrates the Jeckyll and Hyde nature of their season so far. That came on the back of another nilling - this time against Leeds. Both those results bookended their meek surrender to the Giants in the Challenge Cup semi-final. 

Sunday’s 43-16 pummelling of Salford came on the back of three consecutive league defeats. Currently Rovers sit sixth in the table, occupying the last playoff position. Smith’s men are only two points behind their local rivals Hull FC in fifth, but defeat here would have them nervously looking over their shoulders at the teams chasing them for the right to extend the season. They have already suffered at the hands of Saints in 2022 when a Tommy Makinson hat-trick and two tries apiece by Lewis Dodd and Sione Mata’utia set Woolf’s side on the way to a 42-8 win. 

Two of those three will not be in the Saints ranks this week. Lewis Dodd had his season wrecked by an Achilles injury on Good Friday, while Mata’utia has picked up a two-game suspension for a late hit on Lucas Albert in the win at Toulouse. His place in Woolf’s initial 21-man selection is taken by Sam Royle. In the only other change Louie McCarthy-Scarsbrook is denied the opportunity to add to his impressive if logic-defying collection of 392 Super League appearances after picking up a facial injury in France. More on Super League appearance addicts to follow.

Mata’utia has been operating in the centre of late and with Mark Percival still out a vacancy has now arisen. Ben Davies may feel deserving of an opportunity in his preferred position after a difficult time filling in at stand-off. That would remove the need to shuffle other players around too much, but it should probably be remembered that Will Hopoate was touted as a replacement for Kevin Naiqama when the Tongan arrived from Canterbury. He would fit in seamlessly there but given the problems Saints have had in halves without Dodd do we really want to move Hopoate out of the fullback role. Do we want to then have to adjust the position of either Jonny Lomax or Jack Welsby? Jon Bennison is another option at either fullback or centre. With Regan Grace now restored he and Makinson should start on the wings, with Konrad Hurrell at right centre.

It is strange to think that Mata’utia won’t be too sorely missed as a back rower but there is depth there now. Joe Batchelor is an established Super League performer with a Danny Houghton-like appetite for a tackle, while Curtis Sironen is a skilled if sometimes temperamental performer on the opposite side. Morgan Knowles is an unchallenged starter at loose forward when all things are equal but it is comforting to know that we have more than capable back up in James Bell.

And so to the front row and the subject of appearances. Hooker and skipper James Roby is set to make Super League appearance number 455, thus breaking the record that he currently holds jointly with Leeds Rhinos legend Kevin Sinfield. The milestone has provoked much debate among fans of all clubs but especially those of a Saints persuasion on the subject of the greatest ever Super League players. In particular number nines. In many ways the Roby/Cunningham debate is one that can never be conclusively won by either side. It’s our Messi v Ronaldo argument. Nothing about it is proven other than the fact that the level of revisionism on Cunningham’s playing days has been launched into the stratosphere by a rather sad coaching stint. 

Yet stats are stats and records are indisputably great achievements. Roby never has a bad game. An absolute legend of all sport, not just rugby league. In many ways the debate around Roby and Cunningham is in danger of cheapening the overall contribution of both. They are both all-time greats in their own right. Roby should start on Sunday alongside props Alex Walmsley and Matty Lees, while the excellent Joey Lussick waits for his opportunity from the bench. Roby is sure to get a richly deserved raucous reception from the fans. We’ll all be hoping there will be a few more appearances to come after number 455.

With McCarthy-Scarsbrook having gurned himself into the treatment room there is a bench spot up for grabs. Royle will fancy a shot at backing up the second rowers but then so will Jake Wingfield. But if it is a prop that Woolf needs then Dan Norman would appear to be well placed. Lussick and Agnatius Paasi are dead certs if fit while the final place in the squad is taken by Dan Hill who may yet come into Woolf’s thinking in the backs.

There are still notable absentees for Rovers. Brad Takairangi looks to have played his last game for the club having sustained a season-ending injury in the final year of his contract. Yet it is perhaps the loss of halves Mikey Lewis and Jordan Abdul which has caused the biggest headache for Smith in recent times. Even Saints have discovered that life can be difficult with injuries in your creative department. I just read that back and should like to point out that it is not a euphemism. Whatever, leaving it in. This is a blog, not Martyn Sadler’s column. Happily for Rovers Lewis is now fit again but they will still be without Abdul while Korbin Sims also misses out this week.

Focusing on who they do have in their side, one name immediately stands out. Lachlan Coote only spent three seasons at Saints but was a Grand Final winner in every one of them. You can throw in a Challenge Cup winner’s medal too. He is a bona fide Saints legend and the man who made us forget about Ben Barba. He’s also a pretty good mentor too if the rapid development of Welsby as his replacement is anything to go by. He may be on the opposite side on Sunday but I have nothing but good things to say about Coote. 

Of course Coote had quality NRL experience before he pitched up at Saints. That source of incredible talent is something that Rovers have proven outstandingly adept at in recent years. Shaun Kenny-Dowell, Albert Vete and Kane Linnett are players who might have been considered ageing, risky luxuries if they’d turned up at a doss house like Warrington or Hull FC but they have been exceptional for Rovers. There’s an art to NRL recruitment. It is not a sure thing. We all have our Josh Perrys, our Greg Inglises. Rovers have got it right more often than not of late. 

There’s some exciting British talent too. Lewis’ injury gave an opportunity to the gifted Rowan Millnes while in the forwards Matty Storton and Elliot Minchella look to be still improving. Meanwhile at the other end of the age spectrum Ryan Hall has won six Super League rings, two Challenge Cups and two World Club Challenges and is one of only three men to have scored over 200 Super League tries. He currently lies second on the all-time list on 222, 25 behind his former Leeds Rhinos team-mate and current Rovers assistant coach Danny Maguire.  The third member of the 200 club is Josh Charnley. He played for Hull KR too once upon a time. 

This is not a fixture Saints struggle with often, at least not at home. At Rovers’ Craven Park they have had their tribulations but on home soil Saints haven’t lost to the Robins since a 24-12 reverse nine years ago. Saints try scorers that night were Francis Meli and Anthony Laffranchi. They were different times. So long ago in fact that Roby was playing for just the 276th time. 

I don’t expect Saints to struggle here either. The attack looked better balanced last week with Hopoate at fullback and Grace back in on the wing, albeit against the league’s bottom club. If Woolf sticks to that formula and resists the temptation to tinker then Saints should have far too much for a Rovers side who were in a slump until they had the good fortune to run into the currently ailing Salford Red Devils last week.

Squads;

St Helens;

1. Jack Welsby, 2. Tommy Makinson, 3. Will Hopoate, 5. Regan Grace, 6. Jonny Lomax, 8. Alex Walmsley, 9. James Roby, 10. Matty Lees, 12. Joe Batchelor, 13, Morgan Knowles, 14. Joey Lussick, 16. Curtis Sironen, 17. Agnatius Paasi, 19. Jake Wingfield, 20. James Bell, 22. Ben Davies, 23. Konrad Hurrell, 24. Dan Norman, 26. Sam Royle, 27. Jon Bennison, 29. Dan Hill.

Hull KR;

1. Lachlan Coote 2. Ben Crooks 4. Shaun Kenny-Dowall 5. Ryan Hall 8. Albert Vete 9. Matt Parcell 10. George King 11. Dean Hadley 13. Matty Storton 14. Jez Litten 15. Luis Johnson 17. Elliot Minchella 18. Jimmy Keinhorst 19. Will Dagger 20. Mikey Lewis 21. Rowan Milnes 22. Will Maher 23. Ethan Ryan 24. Sam Wood 25. Greg Richards 27. Frankie Halton

Referee: Marcus Griffiths

Toulouse Olympique 14 Saints 28 - Review

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

 

Toulouse Olympique v Saints - Preview

Refreshed and hopefully recharged Saints swing back into action when they travel to face Toulouse Olympique on Saturday night (June 4, kick-off 6.00pm CET, 5.00pm BST).

It’s been a fortnight since Kristian Woolf’s side were last in action as Super League took a break for the Challenge Cup final last weekend. The opportunity to recalibrate perhaps came at a good time for Saints. Following the cup exit to Wigan the champions have laboured to narrow wins over Salford and Warrington either side of a more dominant success over Hull FC. The Lewis Dodd-shaped hole in the halves was really starting to tell during that spell, particularly with Jonny Lomax also carrying an arm injury and the likes of Will Hopoate, Regan Grace and Jon Bennison sidelined throughout that period too. 

Though it has been a struggle Saints have at least kept winning. As a result they remain two points clear of Catalans Dragons at the top of the Super League table as we go into this weekend’s round of games. Despite their problems Saints have won 11 of their first 13 league fixtures. 

Contrast that with their hosts, whose only league wins since earning promotion from the Championship were a shock 22-20 triumph when Saints last visited in March and a somewhat less surprising 20-14 victory over a currently dreadful Wakefield in mid-May. All of which means that although Sylvain Houles’ side remain bottom of the pile they are only two points behind Trinity. With Leeds and Salford improving it is looking increasingly like a two-way battle to avoid the drop into the second tier.

Saints have reasons to be cheerful coming into this one as they bid to avenge that rather blush-inducing reverse in France. Jack Welsby and Matty Lees have agreed deals to stay at the club until at least the end of the 2025 season. Both are academy products who have become key members of the side as it looks for a fourth consecutive Grand Final win. Turning youth products into first team regulars has been absolutely key to Saints’ success over the last few years so it is great to see it continuing. 

In addition, Sione Mata’utia and Agnatius Paasi have committed until at least the end of the 2023 season. Both were on deals until the end of this year but have had their options for a further year triggered. That’s a huge boost for Saints given the impressive form of the duo. Mata’utia has been operating in the centres recently but is one of the premier back rowers in Super League. It says a lot about him that he sits joint third in the Steve Prescott Man Of Steel standings despite having missed six weeks of the season through injury. Meanwhile Paasi has been fantastic this year especially, catching the eye as the impactful, offloading prop which every great Saints side should have.

There’s better news for Saints in the short term too. Three long-term absentees return to Woolf’s 21-man squad for the trip across the Channel. Hopoate has not played since hobbling through the win over Salford on April 29, and has only made five appearances in the red vee since joining from Canterbury Bulldogs at the start of the season. He is back in contention here along with Jon Bennison who after appearing in four straight Super League games earlier in the season has not featured since fracturing his cheekbone in the loss at Castleford in April.  Both Hopoate and Bennison are options in the fullback role but Woolf has been using Lomax there of late in what appears to be an effort to protect that troublesome bicep from the more frequent physicality required in the defensive line. 

Perhaps the standout returnee to Woolf’s squad is Regan Grace. The winger has only featured once in 2022 and that was the relatively gentle assignment of the cup win at Whitehaven in March. A return for the Welshman has been regularly tantalised by Woolf only for it to consistently fail to materialise. As a consequence the chat has got louder about Grace’s future. 

Alarm sirens blared when he only agreed a one-year deal last year.  Since then the gossip has intensified, with suggestions on social media that Grace’s agent has been looking for a rugby union club for his client. That a young Welshman should want to play rugby union for his country should not come as a surprise, particularly with that sport’s next World Cup on the horizon in 2023. In the hope of being wildly wrong I’d suggest we make the most of any opportunities we get to see Grace flying down that Saints left wing from now on.

Hopefully this will be one such opportunity.  If it is it will help out a three-quarter line which will be without the services of Mark Percival. The 28 year-old has started the last two games on the wing as Woolf has had to move pieces around to cover for injuries. Yet Percival will not feature in this one after picking up a knock at Warrington. If Grace and Tommy Makinson occupy the wing slots then Hopoate could slot in at centre alongside Konrad Hurrell with Bennison or Lomax at fullback. Hopoate is also an option at 6, although Ben Davies has started there of late.

The picture looks a little clearer in the forwards. Lees should join Alex Walmsley in the starting front row along with James Roby at hooker. If Mata’utia reverts to the back row then it seems likely that Joe Batchelor will get the other starting berth ahead of Curtis Sironen with Morgan Knowles at 13. Former Manly Sea Eagle Sironen could be on a bench also featuring Paasi, Louie McCarthy-Scarsbrook and back-up 9 Joey Lussick. Dan Norman, Jake Wingfield and James Bell will all be pushing their claims for a place in the 17 also. Suddenly the squad is looking considerably stronger than it has in recent weeks.

The same can be said of Toulouse relative to the way they started their maiden Super League campaign. Since their win over Saints they have been out shopping, with Corey Norman and Daniel Alvaro added to the ranks. Norman is a creative if slightly unpredictable stand-off who lists Brisbane Broncos, Parramatta Eels and St George Illawarra Dragons among his former clubs. Alvaro is a prop, another ex-Eel who turned out 89 times in blue and yellow. The pair add much needed quality to a squad suffering from the age old promoted side’s complaint of having less time and less money to recruit in their preparations for life in the top flight.

Other familiar names in Houles’ 21 include former Catalans Jack-Of-All-Trades Tony Gigot, ex-Dragons dummy half Eloi Pelissier and former Saints trio Andrew Dixon, Dominique Peyroux and Joseph Paulo. There’s also a significant ex-Wigan contingent in props Harrison Hanson and Romain Navarrete as well as centre Chris Hankinson and winger Matty Russell. 

In addition to former Dragons Pelissier, Gigot and Lucas Albert and ex-Wigan man Navarrete there is some lesser known French talent who are all keen to make their mark on Super League. Fullback Latrell Schaumke and winger Mathieu Jussaume could feature as could forwards Anthony Marion, Maxime Stefani and Maxime Puech. 

Aside from the league meeting in March you have to go all the way back to 2010 to find the next most recent encounter between these two. On that occasion Dixon was a try scorer for Saints in a 56-16 Challenge Cup fourth round success at Knowsley Road in front of only just over 4,000 fans. Gary Wheeler, Chris Dean, Chris Flannery, Tony Puletua and Maurie Fa’asavalu were also among the Saints try scorers on that occasion while Jamie Foster kicked eight goals. 

Toulouse could have had more than just the two wins in Super League this year. Both of last week’s cup finalists edged past them by just a single point earlier in the year. Wigan won 29-28 in early March while the Giants prepared for Tottenham by beating Houles’ side 17-16 at The John Smith’s Stadium on May 20. As well as that there was only one score in it when Hull KR came to town, Rovers winning 28-24 on Easter Monday.  Toulouse are getting closer, and as Saints already know to their cost the French side can spring a surprise if the visitors’ preparation and attitude is not quite right. The strengthening done by Houles only increases the level of jeopardy Saints will face. 

And yet for all of that, the once bitten nature of this assignment added to the return of some very useful personnel leads me to believe that the proverbial lightning won’t strike twice on Saints. With no promises about how the attack will look I’d back Saints to get home by 16 to consolidate their place at the Super League summit.

Squads; 

Toulouse Olympique;

2. Latrell Schaumkel 4. Mathieu Jussaume 6. Corey Norman 7. Lucas Albert 8. Romain Navarrete 10. Harrison Hansen 11. Andrew Dixon 12. Dominique Peyroux 13. Anthony Marion 14. Eloi Pelissier 15. Maxime Puech 17. Joseph Paulo 19. James Cunningham 20. Ilias Bergal 21. Chris Hankinson 23. Justin Sangare 25. Matty Russell 27. Olly Ashall-Bott 30. Maxime Stefani 31. Tony Gigot 35. Daniel Alvaro

St Helens;

1. Jack Welsby, 2. Tommy Makinson, 3. Will Hopoate, 5. Regan Grace, 6. Jonny Lomax, 8. Alex Walmsley, 9. James Roby, 10. Matty Lees, 11. Sione Mata’utia, 12. Joe Batchelor, 13, Morgan Knowles, 14. Joey Lussick, 15. LMS, 16. Curtis Sironen, 17. Agnatius Paasi, 19. Jake Wingfield, 20. James Bell, 22. Ben Davies, 23. Konrad Hurrell, 24. Dan Norman, 27. Jon Bennison.

Referee: Liam Moore

 

Amor Joins The Wolves’ Pack

I wasn’t going to write anything this week. We don’t have a game due to that irritating Challenge Cup semi-final defeat to Wigan two weeks ago. The lack of activity is because the final is this weekend at Tottenham. The schedule must be cleared so that Brian Noble can use the phrase ‘in relation’ to a record number of times and union’s Jonathan Davies can tell us how he would take the two regardless of the situation to a maximised audience. And Wigan might just lose, and we wouldn’t want to miss that because we are away at Wakefield Trinity.

So why am I writing? Simply and only because Kyle Amor has joined Warrington Wolves on loan until the end of the season. Amor has been with Saints since 2014, joining from Trinity after starting out with home town club Whitehaven. In between those stops he had a spell at Leeds Rhinos.  But we’ve all made mistakes.

He made his Saints debut in a 38-8 win at his new club Warrington (ironic by Alanis Morissette’s definition), scoring a try and playing alongside the likes of Gary Wheeler, Luke Walsh, Willie Manu, Sia Soliola, Josh Jones, Anthony Laffranchi and current assistant coach Paul Wellens.

In all the Cumbrian prop has made 211 appearances for Saints including 100 off the interchange bench. He has scored 21 tries in the red vee (and assorted multi-coloured away strip disgraces) and managed a best of six in the 2016 season.  

That was slap bang in the middle of the now notorious period of Keiron Cunningham’s tenure. Surprisingly the great man couldn’t get a tune out of Matty Smith and Greg Richards. While they copped their fair share of the fans’ ire as we slipped to the humiliating depths of fourth, Amor was also unfairly singled out at times. And very probably by this writer but that was in my Redvee days. You probably won’t find that material now. Not unless you work for the Intelligence Services.

The truth of the matter is that Amor has been a great servant to the club with no small amount of success. He played in three Super League Grand Final wins and was an unused substitute in another. He featured in two Wembley Challenge Cup finals, losing to Warrington in 2019 (the ironies keep on coming - it’ll be a black fly in your Chardonnay next) and getting his hands on a winner’s medal when Saints beat Castleford 26-12 last year. Amor was again one of the try scorers. 

The move comes when Amor is - to be polite - in the autumn of his career. He will turn 35 this week and is only contracted to Saints until the end of the season. That still makes him a year younger than Louie McCarthy-Scarsbrook whose new contract announcement can only be days away. Yet while McCarthy-Scarsbrook has played in all but one of Saints’ 13 Super League assignments so far in 2022, Amor has only been seen four times.

One of those four was as the old stager in the virtual academy team which Kristian Woolf sent to Castleford at the end of April. That was Amor’s only start, though he did manage another try in a romantic Challenge Cup homecoming at Whitehaven. When the big guns are let loose he has fallen behind not only McCarthy-Scarsbrook but also Agnatius Paasi and Dan Norman in the scramble for bench places backing up starting props Alex Walmsley and Matty Lees. 

But why are we dealing with Warrington, a local rival and potentially - should they turn their form around in the second half of the season - a playoff rival? It may just be a case of needs must at the moment. Saints are desperate to bring in a halfback with Lewis Dodd out and Jonny Lomax playing with a significant bicep injury. To do that they may need to offload somebody. We have an experienced, quality prop sitting around doing nothing but wait for his next TV commentary, while Wire have a desperate need to bolster their flagging pack. Looked at from that point of view the deal makes quite a bit of sense for all parties. 

Besides the move isn’t the first time the two clubs have done business. Remember when Saints borrowed Gareth O’Brien from Wire in 2013 after injuries to Lomax and Lance Hohaia? Paul Sculthorpe, Alan Hunte and…er…Andre Savelio are all relatively recent examples of players who have turned out for both Saints and Wire. 

Warrington’s need to strengthen their prop corps is fairly obvious. There is very little behind former England international Mike Cooper. It’s a small sample size but in those four outings for Saints this term Amor averages 94.3 metres per game. That compares favourably with the efforts of Joe Philbin (71.6), Matty Davis (52.14), Robbie Mulhern (79.58). and even Cooper (89.66) and Joe Bullock (86.83). 

Amor could make a genuine contribution to Warrington’s currently invisible go-forward, his inexperience could be invaluable and - unlike most of his new team mates - he can show you his medals. Amor might just have become Warrington’s most decorated player of all-time. No, I haven’t fact checked that. I got it off a bloke off Twitter but it’s funny, isn’t it?

Turning attentions to Saints, if we are in Gareth O’Brien territory - that is bringing in a halfback on loan because all of our’s are broken - the names in the frame don’t really inspire. With the cap situation and this being mid-season you should probably not expect Nathan Cleary or Adam Reynolds to rock up outside the Cunningham statue carrying their boots. 

Suggestions so far include Wakefield’s Jacob Miller, Halifax’s Joe Keyes or more Saints-Wire relations in the shape of Riley Dean, currently on loan to York. I even saw mention of Leigh’s ex-Wigan and Widnes man Joe Mellor but I was hoping somebody had just spelled Miller wrong. If you want one from left field how about Chanel Tevita-Harris who has just decided - Jamie Lyon style - that he has had enough of the New Zealand Warriors and the NRL at just 23 years of age.

There will be some dark muttering about Amor joining a traditional rival but that’s background noise. Amor has had a great eight years with Saints, has always given 100% even during his caveman hair and beard phase when he must have had difficulty seeing, and deserves an opportunity to play some more first team rugby in Super League before he moves from the pitch to the broadcast booth.

Warrington 10 Saints 12 - Review

The games are getting closer, but Saints remain clear at the top of the Super League table after a bum-squeaker of a win over Warrington on Thursday night (May 19).

It was a Saints performance which was by turns frantic, nerve-shredding, frustrating but still somehow satisfying. Much like the victory over Salford Red Devils three weeks ago the points were sealed by a late, desperate cover tackle following a lung-busting chase. Where Morgan Knowles had sprinted the length of the field to halt Chris Atkin at the end of that Salford win, Tommy Makinson came from the opposite wing to snuff out Connor Wrench’s opportunity to be the last gasp hero. Makinson claimed that honour for himself.

The same old injury problems exist for Saints, meaning Kristian Woolf was limited in how much tinkering he could do with the line-up following last weekend’s 24-10 win over Hull FC. In the end - with Lewis Dodd, Will Hopoate and Regan Grace all still out - Woolf decided not to make any changes at all. The match day 17 was exactly the same as it had been against the black and whites six days earlier. That meant another run at centre for Sione Mata’utia - directly opposite his brother Peter - and another game on the wing for Mark Percival. 

Jonny Lomax again defended at fullback while operating as the main half in attack. He was again joined in the halves by Ben Davies though it often seemed to be nominal fullback Jack Welsby who was Lomax’s main accomplice. Curtis Sironen continued in the second row alongside Joe Batchelor with Mata’utia required elsewhere. James Roby made his 453rd Super League appearance, just one short of the record held by ex-Leeds Rhinos maestro and occasional head-butter Kevin Sinfield.

Warrington came in off the back of an abject capitulation in Perpignan against the Catalans Dragons and predictably there were changes. Josh Thewlis was injured so Gareth Widdop lined up at fullback after missing the last three. Toby King returned to the centres allowing Ben Currie to move back to his favoured second row spot. Joe Philbin was promoted to start at prop alongside Mike Cooper at the expense of Rob Mulhern who started on the bench.

A lot has been made of Saints’ high error count. Probably with some justification but maybe not as much as you might think. Woolf’s side committed 14 errors in this one compared with a season average coming in of 11.75 per game. That’s a significant increase but the truth is that nobody has made more than Saints’ 155 errors in Super League this year. Welsby, Lomax and Hurrell can all be found inside the top 10 culprits throughout the league. Yet this must also have something to do with Saints having a greater share of possession than their opponents almost all of the time.

The first signal that Saints might not be at their best in terms of ball control came early. Their first real attack was thwarted when Sironen could not hold on to Davies’ pass close to the line. Within the first 10 minutes of the game Saints had lost good field position through sloppy handling as both Lomax and Mata’utia coughed up possession.

Fortunately, despite the profligacy in attack Saints’ defence was as mean as ever for the most part. This was the third league game in a row in which Saints conceded exactly 10 points.  It is that defensive solidity which is keeping us ahead of the competition at present. As much as Baz and Tez want to go on about how brilliantly Warrington played I suspect the reason that teams are getting closer to us is that the injuries to Dodd and Lomax have left us in a bit of a quandary in the halves. 

That in turn has made our attack look decidedly average. Saints have scored a total of just 50 points in those last three league wins over Salford, Hull and now Warrington at an average of just 16.6 points per game. Contrast that with our average coming into that run of games - and so before Lomax began playing hurt - which was 25.8 points per game. You don’t need to be a rugby league genius to work out that if Saints score 25+ points in a game they will probably win. If they are only scoring around 16 things become less certain.

That great defensive quality showed when the home side launched their first real raid of the night. King was bundled into touch by a combination of Batchelor, Hurrell and Makinson. Yet it took only two more minutes for Daryl Powell’s side to take the lead. The Dannii Minogue of the Mata’utia family - that’s Peter lest there be any doubt - found Connor Wrench in space on the right. The winger who is in the side for the seemingly sulking Josh Charnley tore down the flank and found Widdop in support on his inside. Widdop made it to the line despite the efforts of Makinson. The Saints winger had sprinted from the other side of the field in a foreshadowing of his later heroics which would preserve this win. Widdop couldn’t find the range with the conversion but Wire - on a run of seven defeats in their previous nine in Super League - were leading the champions 4-0. 

It was noticeable that Powell had advised his troops to play expansively, to try to go around rather than through the Saints rearguard. If I were a neutral I would have found this refreshing. As it was I was just slightly unnerved by it. Furthermore it was a similar approach to that taken by Salford when they came within a Knowles tackle of an upset. In the absence of a definitive blueprint for beating Saints expansive rugby seems as close as any other approach.

Now, remember those last tackle issues we had in the semi-final? I know, sorry to bring it up but they reared their head again here when Sironen was caught on the last just a few metres out. Sironen apparently used to play a bit of what his countrymen would call five-eighth when he was younger. Given that, it is surprising how often he is caught on the last. At some point I’d expect him to kick the ball if the plan has gone so awry that he finds himself in possession on the final play. Unless Woolf has strictly forbidden him to do so. 

Turning the ball over so close to the line turned out well in the end. If Powell had asked for adventure from his side Peter Mata’utia took it to extremes by trying to offload well inside his own 10 metre line. It was ill-advised and was almost snaffled by Knowles who got a hand to it but could only nudge it forward. 

From the resultant scrum Saints got back into the game in especially pleasing circumstances. I have been moaning in this column about teams holding the ball at the back of the scrum to try to get the opposition to break early and offer a cheap penalty. Imagine my delight then when Warrington tried this on with Saints only to see it blow up spectacularly in their faces. 

As Daryl Clark eventually got round to picking the ball up at the base of the scrum the ball squirmed through his legs and rolled back towards the Warrington line. It was picked up by Walmsley who only had to fall over to notch his 43rd try for Saints and his second of the season. Makinson added the extras to put Saints into the lead 6-4 with a quarter of the game gone.

An opportunity to extend that lead was lost when Walmsley could not hold on to possession in contact. Saints had again got within 10 metres off the back of a penalty for offside. Perhaps the big prop was tiring. Agnatius Paasi came on to replace him and almost had an immediate impact. It’s fair to say Paasi likes an offload. He produced a classic of the genre here to release Lomax into Warrington territory. He handed on to Davies but the youngster’s pass to the left flank only found the waiting arms of George Williams. At which point the ex-Wigan man raced away only to find himself on the end of a high shot from Percival. Unlike his yellow card-earning effort during the Salford game Percival’s challenge slid up off the shoulder of Williams. Referee James Child rightly deemed that the penalty was sufficient.

Wire fans may have felt that decision was lenient, but they got away with one of their own a couple of minutes later. Makinson appeared to lose the ball while regaining his feet to play it but it seemed clear that there was contact on the Saints man by Mulhern. The Wolves prop did it in as subtle a manner as being a prop forward allows, but there seemed more than a suggestion of a knee getting in the way of Makinson’s attempted restart.

Five minutes out from half time it was Matty Davis’ turn to go close. Wire had been gifted possession when James Bell’s pass to Louie McCarthy-Scarsbrook was ruled forward. Yet the Saints pair redeemed themselves, hauling Davis down on the last play just five metres out in conjunction with Batchelor. 

McCarthy-Scarsbrook receives about as much praise in this column as Liz Truss, but he was central to helping Saints extend their lead before half-time. Lomax put up a lobbed kick in an attacking position, where McCarthy-Scarsbrook leapt highest to bat the ball back to Roby. The ball was moved along to Lomax and then Paasi, who found an outrageous left to right long ball to Hurrell. The Tongan centre did the rest, finding Makinson on his outside to stroll in for his 14th try of the Super League season. That put the winger level at the top of the try-scoring charts with Ken Sio and Jai Field ahead of their games over the weekend. Spare a thought for McCarthy-Scarsbrook though, whose fine contribution wasn’t even the most impressive by a prop forward in this paragraph. Makinson found a stunning touchline conversion to send Saints in at half-time leading 12-4.

You’d expect Saints to kick on from this position. The last time the champions lost after leading at half-time was that freakish 31-30 defeat to Catalans Dragons at last season’s Magic Weekend in Newcastle. And it was Saints who threatened first after the break. Welsby produced a searing break, going 60 metres before being cut down by Wrench 10 metres out. On the next play Davies tried to go himself from dummy half but only succeeded in spilling the ball forward. 

A promising player, Davies is nevertheless looking increasingly uncomfortable at stand-off. When it was an experiment in a game at Castleford that few Saints fans cared about he was praised. Now that he has become the permanent solution attitudes towards him have changed somewhat. None of this is his fault, but you have to wonder whether Woolf might spend much of the next fortnight - during which Saints are inactive due to the Challenge Cup final - mulling over an alternative halfback combination. There’s a very good argument in any case that Lomax should not be playing if he has to be hidden from the defensive line at fullback. At least Woolf has the time to figure it out before another trip to Toulouse on June 4. We will win there easily. What? Oh…

After the let off from Davies Warrington countered. Currie made strides down the left flank but his attempted pass to Matty Ashton hit the turf. The winger picked it up but then was promptly dumped into touch by Hurrell. The disease of being caught on the last tackle was becoming infectious. Oliver Holmes could only find Sironen with a desperate pass when he tried keeping it alive rather than finding a kicker. Saints produced a more extravagant movement - again involving a now familiar Paasi offload and several moments when Roby looked suspiciously like a man who had absolutely been brought to ground - before Welsby was halted with no more tackles in the bank.

A try at this point would probably have killed Wire off and Saints went close twice in quick succession. Hurrell intercepted a Stefan Ratchford pass and - though he never really looked like outpacing Ashton - his advantage was sufficient that the Warrington winger only just had enough real estate to enable him to bring Hurrell down after a 60 metre charge. On the ensuing set Roby tried to pinch a trademark number nine’s score from dummy half but lost his grip on the ball in the act of trying to reach over Warrington bodies to ground it. Bizarrely, Child saw fit to have the incident reviewed by Ben Thaler in the video booth when it didn’t really look all that close even at full speed. The replays confirmed the suspicions of everyone.

Shortly after that Warrington really got back into the contest. There seemed little on when Minogue Mata’utia caught a strange looking Welsby kick which went far higher than he had intended and only travelled around 20 metres. Motionless for an instant, Mata’utia found Widdop running a great line made even better by the fact that Roby seemed to slip. Widdop surged down the field and found Williams who just about had enough pace to finish despite Welsby’s best efforts. Ratchford tagged on two more points to cut Saints’ lead to 12-10.

Saints were now involved in what boring old ex-Leeds players on the telly call the arm-wrestle. There was an edginess about both teams, manifested when Davis coughed up possession on his own line. Yet it would not prove costly as Matty Lees fluffed his lines also, dropping the ball in contact with the line in sight. 

Warrington’s two tries had come from deep, and they threatened another when Ashton broke into space inside his own quarter. He only had the demonstrably slower Lomax to beat, but the Saints man effected the perfect, try-saving one-on-one tackle before Ashton got the opportunity to turn it into a foot race. Lomax at fullback may not be an ideal scenario but we were certainly grateful for his positional nous and his tackling technique on that occasion.

It was a rare opportunity in a tight final chapter. Nerves frayed when Percival shelled possession inside his own quarter as he was hit by Cooper, Clark and his namesake Jason. Yet Ratchford handed the initiative back almost straight away, failing to hold Daryl Clark’s pass under pressure from Welsby. Walmsley went close, and Batchelor’s turnover on the last soon after felt more deliberate than some other examples over the last few weeks. It at least meant that Warrington would have to go 90 metres to score the go-ahead try and only four minutes remained.

That logic might have looked shabby had Ashton taken Cooper’s pass after the latter was put through the defensive line by King. Cooper’s pass had to be looped high over the swarming Saints defence and Ashton just couldn’t quite bring it under his spell. If he had done so all that would have remained would have been the shutting of the gate.

Saints stuck with the strategy of playing field position rather than risk a kick into the in-goal which if too heavy would offer Wire seven tackles to go 80 metres. Far better to give them six tackles to go 95 metres so Hurrell drove to the line on the last and accepted the tackle. It was a decision Saints almost rued. Almost. 

From nowhere, Widdop produced a looped kick out to the right wing where Wrench grabbed it and shrugged off Percival in one movement. Wrench sped away, gliding past Lomax whose nous and technique couldn’t help him against raw pace on this occasion. Enter Makinson, tearing across from the other side of the field with the sort of speed and determination which typifies him. Like Knowles before him, Makinson executed an exemplary cover tackle which forced Wrench to try to throw the ball back in-field in hope rather than expectation of finding a team-mate. His momentum forced that attempt to go forward.

Saints played out the final set to hang on for a gutsy if unconvincing win. They had been held scoreless - entirely pointless - for the whole of the second half, just like in the bad old days of the fag end of Keiron Cunningham’s reign. And this against a side who had conceded 30 second half tries this season, the second worst record in the competition coming in.  Only it wasn’t at all like that. Saints tried to play when it was appropriate, they had offloads aplenty particularly through Paasi. They just didn’t have their usual sense of direction and purpose in attack. And that is almost entirely down to the current problems at halfback.

Makinson’s final contribution obviously marks him out as a key to the win, but he also chewed up 176 metres with ball in hand, more than anyone on either side. Percival had some difficult moments but added 170 of his own while all of Walmsley (155), Lomax (142), Welsby (138), Hurrell (132), Sironen (111) and Mata’utia (100) hit the century mark. For the hosts Wrench (160), Ashton (123), Widdop (122), Joe Bullock (104) and Mulhern (102) led the way.

Defensively Makinson was not among the top tacklers but he made by far the most important. Batchelor led in this category with 45 but the only other Saint to reach more than 30 was Roby with 36. In a defensive win, the workload was mostly shared. Similarly, only Holmes (44) and Daryl Clark (43) topped the 30 mark for Warrington.

And so thoughts turn to France in two weeks time. Will Woolf send Lomax for the surgery he looks like he needs? Will he persevere with Davies at 6? Will Hopoate or Grace return? Answering these questions is why he is one of the game’s top coaches and I just like to write and natter about them. At least he knows that if there aren’t any perfect solutions in attack his side are still capable of winning on the back of their defence and sheer bloody mindedness. The games may be getting closer, but it is still the name of St Helens you see at the top of the Super League table going into the second half of the season. 

Wigan losing at Hull doesn’t hurt either. They have a bigger game next week, mind. All Giants aren’t we?

Warrington: Widdop, Wrench, Mata’utia, King, Ashton, Ratchford, Williams, Philbin, D Clark, Cooper, Currie, Holmes, Magoulias. Interchanges: Mulhern, J Clark, Bullock, Davis

Saints: Welsby, Makinson, Hurrell, Mata’utia, Percival, Davies, Lomax, Walmsley, Roby, Lees, Batchelor, Sironen, Knowles. Interchanges: Paasi, McCarthy-Scarsbrook, Lussick, Bell

Referee: James Child

Video Referee: Ben Thaler