St Helens progressed to the semi-finals of the Challenge Cup with a comfortable victory over Catalans Dragons, with Paul Rowley’s side running out as 36-4 winners.
Making it to the Challenge Cup semi-finals for the first time since 2023 was a huge positive for Saints, however, it came at a cost with two more players suffering injury blows.
St Helens took the lead early on through a Tristan Sailor penalty with their first try coming on the 10-minute mark as Daryl Clark took advantage of poor marker play to break through, before Lewis Murphy scored in the corner.
Clark was involved again as his kick was collected by Sailor with Jake Davies also scoring before the half after a Sailor assist. Youngsters Owen Dagnall and George Whitby got on the scoresheet to stretch it to 30-0 before Solomona Faataape earned Les Dracs a consolation in the final five minutes.
Whitby would then add another to make the result even more comprehensive and bring the score to 36-4, the same scoreline by which Saints defeated Catalans earlier in the year in Super League.
We’ve picked out the key talking points from St Helens’ comfortable win that saw them progress to the Challenge Cup semi-finals.
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St Helens v Catalans Dragons talking points
Saints spine
Paul Rowley brought George Whitby back into the fray this week with the youngster getting an assist and two tries, however, it was the Tristan Sailor show for long periods of the game.
He had his hands in all things good that St Helens did and it brings about the same scenario that Saints had last year, whereby Sailor looks brilliant once he has a run in a certain position but he eventually ends up being moved about.
With Jack Welsby set to return some time in the coming weeks and months, it could be that Sailor is again shifted from his stable position of full-back back into the halves.
Double Saints injury
The injury issues continue to mount for St Helens and the two they suffered tonight look like they could be long-term ones with Jake Wingfield and Lewis Murphy both going down in the first half.
Wingfield, who was excellent against Wigan, went down under no contact with a knee issue that Saints will be hoping isn’t a much-feared ACL injury.
Lewis Murphy then suffered what appeared to be a dislocated elbow with the winger having to use his shirt as a makeshift sling when leaving the field. Whilst players are returning, losing another two to likely long-term blows is the last thing Paul Rowley needed.
Joel Tomkins’ void
For the third Catalans game in a row, Joel Tomkins was not in attendance and according to reports, the Englishman has actually left the Dragons with immediate effect for personal reasons.
A club who had the stability of Steve McNamara for so long now find themselves needing to appoint a new head coach having only just found McNamara’s replacement.
Ryan Sheridan took charge of Les Dracs but with the very inexperienced coaching duo of Micky McIlorum and Mitchell Pearce alongside him, it’s evident that Catalans need to seek a Tomkins’ replacement sooner rather than later.
Daryl Clark
As mentioned above, Tristan Sailor was excellent but Daryl Clark gets better with every game. It might have been the Bill Leyland show last week but that’s not to say that Clark had a bad game.
Now tasked with being the 80-minute hooker again, Clark was heavily involved from the get-go and helped set a tempo for Saints that Catalans simply couldn’t match.
His brilliant heads-up play to run from dummy-half when the markers split helped create the first try whilst it was his short kick that assisted Tristan Sailor for the second try. A Man of Steel winner over 10 years ago, it’s fair to say that Clark is a prime example of elite longevity.
🙌 The Saints progress into the Challenge Cup Semi-Finals with a great win over Catalans Dragons!#COYS | @LPL_Airport pic.twitter.com/9Y8JNKaZKZ
— St.Helens R.F.C. (@Saints1890) April 10, 2026
