Woolf thrilled as ‘disciplined’ Saints dominate fiery derby

Wigan

St Helens coach Kristian Woolf was delighted with his team’s discipline after they comfortably beat Wigan 26-2 in a fiery derby at the DW Stadium.

Referee Chris Kendall brandished four yellow cards, two of them to Wigan’s England forward John Bateman, after struggling to keep tempers in check in a match packed with all the brutality and intensity expected of a Wigan-saints derby played in front of a Super League season’s best crowd of 16,319.

The champions led 12-2 at the break courtesy of tries from Regan Grace and Lewis Dodd and added others in the second half through Mark Percival and Alex Walmsley to bounce back from their shock home defeat by Castleford and complete the double over the Warriors.

Woolf said: “It was exactly the response we wanted. We didn’t play to our standards last week, but I was really happy and proud of the way we turned up tonight.

“Right from the kick-off we started with terrific intensity and they were disciplined. It’s tough in those situations. Rugby league has an element of aggression and there is always a bit of a fine line.”

Woolf was particularly impressed with scrum-half Dodd, who scored an opportunist try but also held his own in defence.

“He’s getting better and better every week,” Woolf said. “What was most impressive for a young man was the way he handled himself defensively. They threw a lot at him but he was great out there.”

Wigan’s only points came from a penalty by Harry Smith as they failed to score a try for the first time since they moved to the DW Stadium in 1999 and coach Adrian Lam could not hide his disappointment.

“We didn’t get the start we wanted and the second try hurt us,” Lam said.

“The second half was just a nightmare. I think the penalty count was 9-1 against us and we played half the second half with 12 players.

“I’m disappointed with our discipline. I love emotion, but you’ve got to have intelligence with that.”