A bruising battle that seemingly nobody enjoyed!
Call me a purist, but Friday night’s encounter was a damn good game of rugby league.
Reading social media after the game, I was pretty perplexed to see the stream of comments saying how the battle between Hull KR and St Helens was rubbish, low-quality, boring or anything in between.
To the contrary, it was not. As far as bruising encounters go, that was up there among anything we’ve seen all season and both teams were excellent. In the end, Rovers were just that little bit better.
Rugby league isn’t the sport it once was. It is more defensive minded now, much more tactically astute and the intricacies in the physical battle far more complex. It doesn’t always make for the most aesthetically entertaining game to the untrained or casual viewer, but it doesn’t mean it is low quality.
Both teams have been criticised for their attacking performances. Newsflash: this was a game between the two teams with the best defensive records in the competition. It was never going to be a points fest.
As the game has evolved, it has become a case of defences winning games. The successful teams of the last ten years have all been defence first. That doesn’t lend particularly into rugby that’s easy on the eye but it doesn’t diminish the quality.
Saints came into the game without wingers and lost their main forward inside seven minutes. They were on the back foot for long periods yet refused to crack. They produced a string of try-saving tackles, with the pick being Jonny Lomax’s effort to deny Rhyse Martin.
Despite that, they have been swiped at again for losing to a top team. A team that has an incredible home record. A team they lost to by four points. Saints were excellent and can feel more confident about their prospects than they did before the game.
As for Hull KR, the relentlessness of their physicality is just tremendous. Their line speed, the consistency of it, and the intensity is second to none. They camp teams in corners and are, frankly, horrible to play against.
There have been plenty of bad games in Super League this year. There will likely be more next year with two extra teams. But last night’s game was not one of them.