Convincing win for Saints

St Helens scored six tries on Friday night as they romped to a convincing 34-16 Super League win against Hull KR.

Making his 200th appearance for Saints, James Graham scored one, with fellow prop Louie McCarthy-Scarsbrook claiming his first two tries for his new club.

Sia Soliola, Paul Wellens and Jamie Foster also touched down at the Stobart Stadium, with Foster kicking five goals.

Kris Welham underlined his recent strong form by scoring twice for the Robins to take his tally to eight for the season, but that was as good as it got for the injury-hit visitors.

Justin Morgan's side have now lost six of their last seven matches, with star signing Willie Mason again failing to shine before leaving the field after an hour's play.

Saints were 24-6 up by half time - 40 minutes in which they carved open the Rovers defence with alarming ease.

Royce Simmons continued with youngsters Lee Gaskell and Jonny Lomax in the half-back slots as Bath-bound scrum-half Kyle Eastmond was again banished to the Under-20s.

Dynamic

The pair acquitted themselves well but it was all-action hooker James Roby who dictated the pace of most of Saints' play with another dynamic performance.

He offered direction that Hull KR lacked and they are clearly missing the influence of Michael Dobson, Clint Newton and Mick Vella.

Rovers did actually score the first try of the night in the 10th minute but they should really have been 12-0 down by that stage.

Saints saw two glorious chances go begging, the first set up when Lomax found a hole to set up Tony Puletua under the posts.

However, after a neat side-step, the loose forward contrived to lose the ball diving over the line.

Puletua tried to make amends when trying to put Roby through in a similarly central position but his pass was too strong for the hooker.

Hull KR responded, with Jake Webster sprinting clear on the left before sending Welham racing over.

The setback only proved temporary for Saints, though, with Graham powering to the line and Roby sending Soliola over.

Mason then conceded two penalties in quick succession and McCarthy-Scarsbrook, fresh off the bench, scored his first after taking a Roby pass and crashing over by the posts.

The England prop did not have to wait long for his second, and it came in almost identical fashion from a Roby pass - Saints scoring three times in the space of 10 minutes.

The Robins almost pulled one back through Peter Fox in the corner but the hard-working Gaskell and Lomax combined to deny him.

Saints went further ahead three minutes before half time as Wellens backed up Ade Gardner's break from inside his own half to score a fourth.

Setback

The visitors then suffered another setback when full-back Shaun Briscoe limped off after colliding with Chris Flannery leaping for a high ball and landing awkwardly.

They started the second half brightly but were denied a try when Craig Hall knocked on close to the line.

Saints responded with their fifth of the evening as Roby sparked another incisive move which ended with Foster taking a Gary Wheeler pass to touch down.

Foster failed to convert for the first time but made no mistake after Graham marked his landmark appearance with a close-range try.

Rovers did, however, finish with a flourish as Webster found his way over out wide before Welham slid in to claim his second in the last minute.