Barba’s injury cannot stop St Helens

Justin Holbrook, the St Helens coach, played down worries about Ben Barba’s fitness as his side won a thriller to go six points clear at the top of Super League.

The leaders were grateful to hold off a fightback by a dogged Wakefield side and the withdrawal of Man of Steel favourite Barba with a knee problem initially caused concern. However, Holbrook was taking a positive outlook.

“Ben copped a knock on his knee but hopefully he’ll be OK,” said the Australian. “I’m really happy to win that game. We hung in there after giving Wakefield a lot of ball. In the first half we were in complete control and should have been even further in front. We dug really deep but to come back and win like that was fantastic.”

The hosts were given a huge scare as Wakefield clawed back a 20-6 half-time deficit with four quick-fire tries to lead 26-20. But late tries from Regan Grace, Zeb Taia and James Roby turned the game back in favour of Saints in a breathless second half.

Wakefield coach Chris Chester was left to rue an opportunity missed. “In some ways I’m very disappointed and frustrated,” he said. “But on the flip side I’m proud of the team and the belief they showed against the best team in the competition. We had to change the way we played tonight because you can’t get into a grind against Saints. As the saying goes, ‘You never write off Saints’.”