Saints » Results

Saints went top of the engage Super League for the first time this season with an efficient and clinical 54-0 demolition of Harlequins RL.

Led superbly by Leon Pryce, Saints turned in an emphatic first half display that brought four tries and 22 points – the stand off scoring one and having a hand in two others as well as being a rock in defence.

Second half tries from Ade Gardner, Jon Wilkin, Kyle Eastmond, Francis Meli, James Roby and James Graham not only sealed a superb victory in the nations’ capital and Saints’ 13^th on the spin, but wiped out the points difference between themselves and Leeds.

Saints made one change from the team that beat Huddersfield last week - James Roby starting at loose with Jon Wilkin moving into the second row because Lee Gilmour was back home waiting for his first child to be born.

Sam Thompson also made his fifth straight appearance from the bench and Paul Clough his 50^th in the Red Vee.

Harlequins moved Rikki Sheriffe to full back and Jamie O Callaghan came in at wing after injury. Rob Purdham also made a return.

With heavy metal the order of the day at nearby Twickenham, Saints aimed to rock the Quins and go top of Super League in the process.

But within seconds of kick off, they were almost undone as Harlequins worked a gap down their left hand side. But strong tackling and poor passing put pay to the chance.

Saints soon were on the attack thanks to a well floated high kick from Long – catching Sheriffe out of position on the bounce. Taking it on the second attempt he was bundled into his own in goal area by Roby and Matt Gidley.

Seconds later, Saints should have scored when Sculthorpe combined with Wellens to create room for Talau and then Meli; the ball going forward.

That move was a clear warning to Harlequins… and one that wasn’t heeded when Long sent Pryce slithering through the middle after 13 minutes.

From there, Sculthorpe delayed his pass long enough to give Talau the chance; one he wasted no opportunity in taking. Long wide with the extras.

Moments later, Pryce did the same once more, this time drawing the full back to send Roby in under the sticks for his ninth of the season. Long making no mistake in making it a 10-0 game.

On 25 minutes, Saints forced Harlequins to drop out after some opportunistic play from Long following Sheriffe’s mistake. And after some smart drives, running across the park Long fed Pryce who once again displayed his footwork to come back inside and go under the posts. Long with the extras.

Moments later, Sean Long was just dragged back as he was going over, but from the tackle Saints moved it right and some pretty handiwork saw Paul Clough bulldoze over from close range – the youngster taking on four Harlequins’ defenders in the process. Long with the extras once more.

Saints could have added to the score late on, but produced a very clinical tackling stint to not give the Quins a sight of the final third of the pitch.

Half Time: Quins 0 Saints 22

Like the first, Harlequins began the half with intent - Will Sharp scampering down the left hand side to be brought down by Wellens 15 metres out. They then drove to within inches of the line only for the ball to pop out as Jon Grayshon looked certain to score.

A minute later Chubb was around two inches short as he looked to get the Quins on the board on the last tackle.

From the restart, Saints went 100 metres and posted another score. After two innocuous looking drives, Talau rampaged up Saints’ left taking on the defence. With great field position the ball was worked into the hands of Gardner who went over in the corner. Long with the extras.

It was the perfect reply to solid Quins pressure and pulled the Saints to within just one try of the summit of the Super League table for the first time this season.

And moments later, Sean Long fed Jon Wilkin for his fifth of the season, then put Saints top of the league with the conversion.

From the restart, Saints again went up the other end of the field. Led superbly by Bryn Hargreaves who demonstrated his hand-off skills on at least three forwards, the ball was ripped up the middle and into the hands of Eastmond who just put a foot in touch in the process of going over. Very unlucky indeed.

However, he wasn’t going to be denied on Saints’ next set – scampering over from short distance after the Quins had lost the ball 20 metres out. Long wide with the conversion.

Keiron Cunningham had one chalked off by the video ref with around 15 minutes to go; his trademark dummy half run a foot from the line just short.

Francis Meli then added a superb team try when he rounded off a marvellous handling move that saw Paul Wellens chip into one corner, get the ball back from Gardner and Gidley, and then set up a move that at least four players had a hand in and get it down in the opposite corner! Long wide with the conversion.

Roby and Graham scored in the final seven minutes to underline Saints’ fantastic performance.

After the game, Daniel Anderson said: "It was a very, very good performance. We scored some exceptional tries - I was gobsmacked myself. We were by no means perfect but it was a great display.

"I thought Leon was absolutely brilliant - he was totally on fire. He has trained exceptionally hard over the last two years to get to where he is today."

Quins coach Brian McDermott paid tribute to Harlequins’ faithful: “The crowd were great and they have been all year. Saints are white hot right now and maybe we invited them to play that way with our defensive frailties early on. But I'm really proud of the boys, they stuck at it and kept trying to play right up to the end."

Match Summary

Harlequins RL:

Tries:

Goals:

Saints:

Tries: Talau, Roby (2), Pryce, Clough, Gardner, Wilkin, Eastmond, Meli, Graham

Goals: Long (6 from 9), Sculthorpe (1 from 1)

Penalties:

Harlequins RL:

Saints: 4

HT (Sts First): 22-0

FT (Sts First): 54-0

REF: Ben Thaler

ATT: 4276

Teams:

Harlequins RL:

5. Rikki Sheriffe; 25. Lamont Bryan, 13. Rob Purdham, 24. Will Sharp, 30. Jamie O Callaghan; 6. Scott Hill, 17. Danny Ward, 9. Chad Randall, 16. Gareth Haggerty, 19. Tony Clubb, 27. Mike Worrincy, 23. Henry Paul.

Subs: 10. Daniel Heckenberg, 11. Louie McCarthy-Scarsbrook, 20. Jon Grayshon, 21. David Tootill.

Saints:

1. Paul Wellens; 2. Ade Gardner, 3. Matt Gidley, 4. Willie Talau, 5. Francis Meli; 6. Leon Pryce, 7. Sean Long, 17. James Graham, 9. Keiron Cunningham, 18. Bryn Hargreaves, 13. Paul Sculthorpe, 12. Jon Wilkin, 14. James Roby.

Subs: 21. Paul Clough, 23. Maurie Fa’asavalu, 24. Kyle Eastmond, 29. Sam Thompson.