St Helens 4-40 Huddersfield Giants

St Helens head coach Nathan Brown had a first game to forget as his new side were thrashed by former club Huddersfield Giants.

Jermaine McGillvary set Giants on course for their first win at Saints for 35 years with a fine opening score.

And further tries from Brett Ferres and Leroy Cudjoe, and five Danny Brough goals, gave them a 22-0 half-time lead.

Luke George, Larne Patrick, Shaun Lunt and Cudjoe all crossed after the break before Mark Flanagan's consolation.

Huddersfield had not won at St Helens since 1978 and had lost 28-0 at Langtree Park last month in a pre-season friendly.

But the Giants dominated from the first whistle and pinned Saints back deep in their own territory.

Their finishing was ruthless as a mistake from Willie Manu gifted the Giants possession and they capitalised by spreading the ball to McGillvary, who burst past three Saints players to score under the posts.

Ferres then powered his way over following a perfectly-timed pass by Brough, whose brilliant offload led to the Giants spreading the ball wide to Cudjoe, who sold a dummy to the Saints defence to cut inside and cross for his side's third try.

Brough, who converted all three tries and landed a penalty, kicked another penalty with the last kick of the half to send Huddersfield into half-time with a 22-0 lead, while Saints left the field with the boos of their fans ringing in their ears.

And Brown's team talk appeared to make little difference as Brough's superb long pass allowed George to canter over in the corner.

Lance Hohaia then made a hash of Jason Chan's bomb to present Patrick with the simplest of scores, before Lunt further embarrassed the Saints defence by bursting over from the base of a scrum.

Cudjoe seized on a loose ball to race clear and score his second try after Francis Meli lost possession, but Flanagan crossed late on to ensure Saints would not be 'nilled' at home for the first time in Super League.

VIEWS FROM THE DRESSING ROOM

St Helens head coach Nathan Brown:

"The physical part of the game is where it's won and lost and we got physically dominated.

"We knew Huddersfield had recruited really well and they will rattle up some scores. They did really well, hats off to them. Broughy got to play in a dinner suit tonight.

"I thought we'd do a bit better than we did but we need to hold our nerve. It's a long year."

Huddersfield head coach Paul Anderson:

"It's fair to say we got the bounce of the ball but sometimes you make those things happen.

"There was a good collective through the team but we can't lose sight of where we're at.

"My job is to keep people's feet on the ground. There were parts of the game where we were good and parts of the game where we weren't so good. There is still massive improvement to come.

"We will enjoy ourselves, understand where we're at and, when the time is right, put our focus into round two."

LINE-UPS

St Helens: Wellens, Makinson, Turner, Jones, Meli, Gaskell, Lomax, Perry, Roby, Laffranchi, Soliola, Wilkin, Manu.

Replacements: Hohaia, McCarthy-Scarsbrook, Puletua, Flanagan.

Huddersfield: Grix, George, Cudjoe, Wardle, McGillvary, Brough, Robinson, Fielden, Lunt, Kopczak, Ferres, Chan, O'Donnell.

Replacements: Crabtree, Faiumu, Patrick, Cording.

Referee: Richard Silverwood (RFL)