St Helens v Warrington Wolves verdict as Sneyd stars and St Helens’ attack stutters

Warrington Wolves travelled to face St Helens in Round Five of Super League and here’s our verdict on how it all unfolded.

It was a fifth consecutive win for Warrington over their rivals as they beat St Helens 14-12 courtesy of Marc Sneyd’s boot, which created the first try and then added six points from the tee in the resilient win.

For St Helens, their lack of efficiency on the last tackle cost them as they fell to a second straight Super League defeat after having won the first three games of the campaign.

St Helens had been forced to call up young winger Dayon Sambou to deputise after it was confirmed that NRL recruit Kyle Feldt had suffered a hand injury ruling him out for 12 weeks.

As for Warrington, their major change saw signing Marc Sneyd named in the halves alongside George Williams with the likes of Matt Dufty and Matty Ashton also returning to provide extra strike.

With Warrington having lost their past two Super League games and St Helens’ charge being blunted by defeat to Hull KR, this was teed up to be a classic at the Totally Wicked Stadium and it certainly delivered.

Here’s our verdict on the game.

Sneyd stars as Warrington Wolves bounce back against St Helens

.@WarringtonRLFC hold on to win an absolute belter 👏#SuperLeague pic.twitter.com/hUFWFFILal

— Betfred Super League (@SuperLeague) March 21, 2025

Saints started strong but were then gifted two points when an incredibly soft penalty was given for a ‘late hit’ in front of the sticks. Mark Percival knocked it over to make it 2-0 and that St Helens control continued until Warrington sucker-punched them.

To no-one’s surprise, it was Marc Sneyd at the heart of it as he darted a kick through for his half-partner George Williams to score and make it 6-2 after 20 minutes. Sneyd’s boot was called into action soon after as Warrington took a two-pointer and they took that 8-2 lead into the break.

St Helens started the second half as they had the first but this time they turned the pressure into a try and it came after a smart dummy from Morgan Knowles with the loose forward crashing over under the sticks to make it 8-8.

The scores weren’t level for long though as a rare stray Jack Welsby pass was scooped up by Matty Ashton who sprinted 70 metres to score under the posts.

Ashton’s score was then outdone by debutant Dayon Sambou who scored acrobatically in the corner, however, his centre Mark Percival couldn’t convert meaning the Red Vee trailed 14-12 on the hour mark.

Rodrick Tai and Paul Vaughan both came close to scoring and Wire then won a captain’s challenge to maintain that good territory but they wasted that but it didn’t matter as they saw out a tense final five minutes to secure the win.

Good day for

Warrington Wolves clearly came in with a game plan to target the Saints debutant Dayon Sambou with their kicking game, however, the young winger fared very well under the high ball and generally stepped up. He also took his try very well, even if he did perhaps overdo the acrobatics.

Bad day for

Josh Thewlis left the field before the half with what was later confirmed as a hip injury. The winger went up for a high ball along with Rodrick Tai and Dayon Sambou but came off worse for wear, with Sam Burgess’ side picking up yet another outside back injury after just bringing Matty Ashton back.

Star man

To come in at such short notice and have such a major influence on the game, there can only be one man and that is Marc Sneyd. He created the first with his kick to George Williams and his in-play kicking ensured Wire completed their sets better than St Helens, something that was ultimately the difference.

Teams

St Helens XIII: Jack Welsby, Jon Bennison, Harry Robertson, Mark Percival, Dayon Sambou, Tristan Sailor, Jonny Lomas, Alex Walmsley, Daryl Clark, Matty Lees, Curtis Sironen, Matt Whitley, Morgan Knowles

Interchanges: Moses Mbye, Agnatius Paasi, Jake Wingfield, George Delaney

Warrington Wolves XIII: Matt Dufty, Josh Thewlis, Rodrick Tai, Toby King, Matty Ashton, George Williams, Marc Sneyd, Zane Musgrove, Danny Walker, Paul Vaughan, Ben Currie, Lachlan Fitzgibbon, James Harrison

Interchanges:  Sam Powell, Adam Holroyd, Joe Philbin, Max Wood

A massive clash live on @SkySports 😤@Saints1890 or @WarringtonRLFC – who comes out on top? 🤔#SuperLeague pic.twitter.com/Dig84IS0Nr

— Betfred Super League (@SuperLeague) March 21, 2025