Harlequins coach Rob Powell has called on his side to be more ruthless despite overcoming St Helens 27-16.
Quins coach finds room for improvement despite win
Harlequins coach Rob Powell has called on his side to be more ruthless despite overcoming St Helens 27-16 at the Stobart Stadium.
The Londoners had Friday night's encounter sewn up by half-time when they led 20-0 thanks to tries from Luke Dorn, Tony Clubb and Karl Pryce.
The Saints did launch a second-half fightback, however an interception try from Nick Kouparitsas sealed an impressive win for the visitors.
But Powell, who at 30 is the youngest head coach in Super League, bemoaned the fact his side did not win by a greater margin.
Stung
"We don't want to get carried away but I don't think the scoreline reflected the game," said Powell. "I thought we were good enough to win by more points.
"There were opportunities to kill the game off, especially at 20-0. We need to learn to do better in those situations because we could get end up getting stung by a team."
With hooker Andy Ellis combining magnificently with half-backs Luke Gale and Chad Randall, Harlequins were good value for a fourth win from five matches which puts them level with leaders Warrington.
Gale kicked five goals and a drop goal to bounce back to form after a below-par effort in last week's first defeat of the season against Huddersfield.
"He had a dip last week and he was disappointed with himself," said Powell. "He got it back tonight, though. He put some great kicks in and showed some control and composure and had a real good crack."
Powell also singled out Pryce, who switched to centre in the absence of the suspended David Howell and scored his second try in three appearances of his loan spell from Wigan.
"He's enjoying himself and it showed in the way he played," said Powell. "He's obviously a menace with the ball near their end because he's so big. He's also doing some tough work bringing the ball out.
"He rolled an ankle and played hurt for about 40 minutes and that's a big thing for him. He's giving it a real dig and enjoying it. Teams throw a lot at him and he came up with the tackles."
St Helens gave a debut to Australian Test prop Josh Perry but badly missed their injured quartet of internationals as they produced a below-par performance to leave themselves still looking for their first win at their temporary home in Widnes.
They looked devoid of ideas in attack, with teenage stand-off Lee Gaskell trying in vain to provide a spark, and put themselves under enormous pressure with a series of handling errors inside their own half.
Desire
"It was a very ordinary performance," said coach Royce Simmons. "That first half was very disappointing. We were very poor.
"The second half was a bit better and we scored three tries to one but you can't give 18 points away. Our attitude wasn't good enough.
"From kick-offs, they were returning the ball 60 metres. They turned up with a lot more energy and a lot more desire.
"It was my job to make sure they got it and they didn't have it today. We didn't play too well and I didn't coach too well, obviously.
"It's disappointing when you're in front of your own crowd. They only had about three supporters here I reckon. We all have to have a good hard think about what we're doing."
