Saints rise above Eagles

At the double: Foster contributed two tries to St Helens' win

St Helens booked their place in the fifth round of the Carnegie Challenge Cup with a 52-26 win over Sheffield, for whom Quentin Laulu-Togagae grabbed a hat-trick in the last 10 minutes.

The Eagles looked in for a tough afternoon as Jamie Foster and Francis Meli led the way for Saints with two tries apiece.

Sheffield finished strongly with Laulu-Togagae claiming three of his own but it was too late by that stage.

Saints got the ball rolling with just three minutes on the clock when Eagles centre Menzie Yere lost the ball in the tackle, allowing Meli to press through, creating a space for Foster to fly over in the corner. The ace marksman slotted the extras from the touchline

Pressure

Although Simon Brown responded with a fine 40/20, the Eagles could not make it count and Saints were soon piling on the pressure.

That paid off after 13 minutes when New Zealand powerhouse Sia Soliola burst the Eagles defensive line, refusing to be tackled the first time to stretch over.

Saints had the bit between their teeth and four minutes later James Roby broke from deep, before combining with Jon Wilkin, who slipped a fine pass to Meli, who did the rest, despite a collision with referee Ben Thaler en route to the line.

Foster converted both to give Saints an 18-0 lead, but the Eagles did not throw in the towel and were rewarded with a try following a length-of-the-field break from full-back Quentin Laulu-Togagae. Although the initial burst was halted, the ball was shifted left where Alex Szostak picked up off the floor to touch down.

Brown's goal cut the deficit to 12 points, but Saints responded with England centre Michael Shenton using good footwork and strength from close range to get the ball over.

Foster missed the conversion to leave Saints up 22-6 at the break.

Saints did not waste much time to wrap it up after the break, with Meli touching down Wilkin's smart grubber within a minute of the restart.

And six minutes later Wilkin picked Mitchell Stringer's pocket to intercept from close range.

Foster added Saints' third of the half when he was given a walk-in from Meli, with the 20-year-old wing goaling all three.

Szostak grabbed his and Eagles' second for consolation after 54 minutes, with the second rower winning the race to a kick and fly hack to the corner.

Break

But normal service was resumed four minutes later when another fine break from man-of-the-match Wilkin was rounded off by Eastmond from 25 metres.

The Eagles were not disgraced, and Laulu-Togagae crossed after Andrew Henderson and Yere had been held up.

The same player raced in for two more in the last four minutes, with Brown goaling both to add some respectability to scoreline.

But Saints had the last word when Chris Flannery sliced through from close range to bring up the half century. Foster concluded with his eighth goal from nine attempts.