St Helens had the perfect preparation for next weeks Challenge Cup Final as they eased to victory over Leeds Rhinos.
MATCH DETAILS
It was Leeds who started the better side in the opening exchanges as they forced a couple of repeat sets. Ash Handley looked certain to open the scoring but was denied by a outstanding tackle by Jack Welsby.
St Helens broke down the left with Mark Percival evading a number of players to give Saints good field position. They then ran it on the last with Dom Peyroux offloading just before his ball carrying arm hit the floor. It was then tipped on brilliantly by Percival and resulted in Regan Grace opening the scoring.
Leeds equalised through Richie Myler has he used his footwork to get around Zeb Taia and then Aaron Smith before stretching out to ground the ball.
Leeds then went ahead through Ash Handley. The ball was moved from left to right, Konrad Hurrell attracted the Sains defenders before passing the ball to Handley who ran over the top of Theo Fages to score.
Kevin Naiqama levelled the scores just before half time with the first of his tries. Lomax and Welsby linked up to create space for the Fijian who then muscled his way over.
Saints went ahead early in the second half. Percival missed a cross field kick from Theo Fages and the bouncing ball caused mayhem in the in goal area as Luke Briscoe then missed the ball. The Video Ref adjudged thatย Regan Grace had enough downward pressure when grounding the ball.
They then pulled two scores ahead on the next set through Zeb Taia. Taia’s kick was picked up by Grace who then somehow managed to offload it despite having three Leeds players on his back for Taia touch down in the corner.
Brad Dwyer was penalised for having his hands on the ball as Joe Batchelor tried to play it.ย Percival converted the penalty to make the lead 14 points.
Naiqama scores his second as he easily beat Hurrell on his inside to score under the posts.
He scored his third of the game with an almost identical try as he stepped on the inside before putting his foot down.
Leeds score two late consolation tries to make the score look respectable. Firstly Ash Handley continued his impressive scoring record against Saints with a try in the corner and then Luke Briscoe threw a superb pass as he was going into to touch which was then picked up by Harry Newman to make the final score 36-20.
FOUR POINTERS
Hurrell
We all know the threat Konrad Hurrell is in attack but his defence has been a real problem for the Rhinos. He is such a big guy that he is quite flat footed. A good running line from an opposition player targeting his inside shoulder is likely to end up in a try.ย This was shown twice as Kevin Naiqama scored two identical tries doing this.
Lack of attacking structure
Leeds looked like they had run out if ideas towards the end of the game which has been the case many times this season. Too often are they just trying to get the ball to Hurrell as much as they can or throwing risky offloads. If Leeds want to go back to competing at the top then a half-back needs to be a priority for them.
Strength in depth
One major thing to come out of the game is the strength in depth that St Helens have. Players like Josh Eaves and Joe Batchelor have hardly had any game time for Saints this year but they slotted in and looked as if they have been regulars.
Lack of gameย time
The only negative to come out of the game for Saints is the lack of game time that senior players have had before next weeks Challenge Cup Final. Justin Holbrook has said that Lachlan Coote, Alex Walmsley and James Roby will all play next week against Warrington. Morgan Knowles was announced in the 19 man squad but was ruled out through illness. It will be a big risk to play all four players next week.
THE RESULT
Leeds Rhinos 20
Tries: Myler, Handley (2), Newman
Goals: Martin (2)
Drop Goals: n/a
St Helens 36
Tries: Grace (2), Naqaima (3), Taia
Goals: Percival (6)
Drop Goals: n/a
SQUADS
Leeds Rhinos: Walker, Briscoe, Hurrell, Newman, Handley, Lui, Myler; Lunt, Cuthbertson, Seumanufagai, Ferres, Martin, Merrin
Interchanges: Dwyer, Donaldson, Peteru, Sutcliffe
St Helens: Welsby, Costello, Naiqama, Percival, Grace; Fages, Lomax, Thompson, Smith, Lees, Peyroux, Taia, Bentley
Interchanges: Amor, Ashworth, Batchelor, Eaves
