Megan Wellens
Sports Journalist @MegWellensX
St Helens 34-24 Wigan Warriors: Loanee Bill Leyland scores double as Saints complete almighty fightback in Good Friday derby
Bill Leyland scored twice in the final three minutes to wrap up a massive comeback victory for St Helens; Wigan had a narrow 12-10 lead at half-time; Sky Sports is the only place to watch every Super League game live in 2026
Last Updated: 03/04/26 5:34pm
St Helens scored four tries in the final 15 minutes to pull off an almighty fightback and wrap up a 34-24 victory over Wigan Warriors in the Good Friday derby at the BrewDog Stadium.
Saints were without double figures of their first team due to injuries and suspension but had brought in Bill Leyland and Jordan Dezaria from Hull KR on a one-week loan to bolster their side on the bench in the week.
They say form goes out of the window in a Betfred Super League derby game and that it did. Indeed, it was reminiscent of when, back in 2003, a depleted Wigan side beat St Helens.
- Rivals Round: St Helens vs Wigan Warriors: As it happened!
- Not got Sky? Get Sky Sports or stream contract-free on NOW
- Download Sky Sports app for expert analysis, video and more
- Choose the Sky Sports push notifications you want
Remarkably, Leyland, who has been on loan at St Helens for just a few days, proved the hero as he scored twice in the closing stages to wrap up a classic victory for Saints as they lived up to the tagline of 'Never write off the Saints'.
Wigan had a huge boost with the return of Jai Field for the first time since recovering from appendicitis but could not hold on to secure their first Good Friday win on Saints' turf in 10 years.
In front of a sold-out crowd at BrewDog Stadium, Wigan Warriors had a narrow 12-10 half-time lead thanks to tries from Harry Smith and Jack Farrimond, Adam Keighran converting both.
St Helens had hit back through Matt Whitley and Daryl Clark, Tristan Sailor converting the second.
Wigan thought they had wrapped up the victory when Field and Zack Eckersley had scored but as Jackson Hastings, Tristan Sailor and Leyland went over with less than a quarter left on the clock, the Saints faithful went into pandemonium.
Leyland helps St Helens pull off Good Friday miracle
As ever in this match, it was a brutal start between Saints and Wigan, both teams putting everything into each and every tackle.
The St Helens fans were quickly met with a sight they did not want to see when Agnatius Paasi left the field with a hamstring injury.
It took only seven minutes for Wigan to easily get onto the scoreboard. After Lewis Murphy was pinged for an incorrect play the ball, Smith was allowed to easily dance through by Shane Wright and Sailor, Keighran converting to give the visitors an early 6-0 lead.
Despite going down early, St Helens responded in the 15th minute when, on the back of repeat sets, Sailor sent the flick pass for Whitley to go in for his first try of the season and bring the score to 6-4. Sailor was unable to add the conversion.
Four minutes later, Kaide Ellis thought he was over, but Jake Wingfield came up with a brilliant defensive effort to hold him up over the line on the fourth tackle.
It did not take long for more points to come though as Farrimond sent up a chip with Zach Eckersley climbing highest to bat the ball back to the half-back, Keighran sending over a clutch conversion from the touchline for a 12-4 lead after 23 minutes.
St Helens kept coming and got their reward in the 30th minute as Clark earned a penalty on halfway then from close range used his strength to ride the tackle and go over. Sailor converted this time to bring the score to 12-10 at the break.
The second half started just as ferociously as the first but in the opening 10 minutes there was a nervous energy with Saints and Wigan coming up with costly errors, Sam Walters coming close but being held up by another brilliant Wingfield try-saver.
The Warriors thought they had brought an end to that worry for their fans in the 54th minute when Smith put through a smart grubber on the last which Field expertly dove on to mark his return to the side.
It was a beauty of a team try which the Warriors thought had wrapped up derby day glory for the Warriors. As Patrick Mago got the pass away in the tackle to Brad O'Neill, the hooker found Ollie Partington who raced away and found winger Eckersley. He used his pace to slide in at the corner while Keighran found perfection with the boot once again to put Wigan 24-10 up with just over 10 minutes remaining.
However, as we often see in these derbies, the game was nowhere near over.
As Murphy broke down the wing in the 72nd minute, Saints skipper Hastings found himself in the right place at the right time to pick up the loose ball and go over. Sailor converted to bring the score to 24-16.
Then, the comeback reached new heights. After Sailor himself went over and converted to bring the score to 24-22, all attention turned to Leyland as he had his moment in the spotlight.
In the 77th minute, he found a pick-and-go from close range to scoot over and score. Sailor obliged with the conversion to bring the score to 28-24.
Just as he thought he had already wrapped up the win, he found even more glory when Wigan went for the short kick-off and the ball bounced kindly for the interchange hooker, allowing him to run away and go in as the noise in the St Helens ends reached fever pitch.
The victory marks St Helens' first win over Wigan since 2023.
'I've only had one training session with Saints!'
Player of the match - Bill Leyland - on Sky Sports:
"It's surreal. Playing such a big derby. My team [Hull KR] won in the game before, so it's a double win for me. I'm glad to bring it home for all of these fans, it's pretty surreal.
"I was told to be ready. I don't even think I deserve this [award]. Klemmer played the full 80 and killed it.
"All I wanted was the game time, wherever that is. The boys have welcomed me here, I've only had one training session. To share this experience with them is special."
'Never write off the Saints' | Wigan weren't at it for sustained periods'
St Helens head coach Paul Rowley, speaking on Sky Sports:
"That was very special. The adversity we were under - before and during the game.
"The belief and character of the group has never been questioned, we wanted to bounce back from a tough week last week, and we did that in the best way possible.
"Bill Leyland is a good runner of the ball, he's elusive. We thought he could be just the tonic for us to open up the game. He's an admiral young man, massive credit to him."
Wigan head coach Matt Peet, speaking to Sky Sports:
"I can accept it was an intense game, passionate, that finished in an exciting manner, but we need to look at the things we did.
"We've got to be better than that but credit to Saints, they had their backs to the wall but continued to move the ball and deserved the win.
"We didn't put our game together enough for a sustained period. The attack was good but we gave penalties away too often. We weren't at it for sustained periods."
2026 Super League - key dates and what to look out for
- Rivals Round: April 3-April 5
- Super League in Paris: Sat Jun 6: Catalans Dragons v Wigan Warriors (Paris), 6:30 UK (Sky Sports)
- Magic Weekend: July 4-July 5
- Rivals Round reversed: July 23-July 26
- Elimination Play-offs: September 19-September 20
- Play-off semi-finals: September 26-September 27
- Grand Final: October 3, Old Trafford.
Sky Sports will again show every game of the Super League live this season - including two matches in each round exclusively live, with the remaining five matches each week shown on Sky Sports+
