Super League: St Helens 40-4 London Broncos - Saints thrash promoted side

London Broncos were given a rude awakening on their return to Super League by a St Helens side in ruthless mood and hungry to win back the title.

Broncos were under the pump once early scores from Lewis Dodd and Jack Welsby put Saints ahead, and Alex Walmsley and Tommy Makinson added further tries.

Robbie Storey put London on the board, but it was short-lived joy as Saints' Daryl Clark and Matt Whitley pounced.

Jonny Lomax and Whitley's second blew out the score late on for St Helens.

Paul Wellens' Saints just missed out on the big prize in Super League last season despite their World Club Challenge success.

Without the now-retired hooker and talismanic captain James Roby this season, they adapted well in this tussle, with Roby's replacement Daryl Clark impressing on his debut.

New captain Lomax retained his influence amid the extra responsibility, while Welsby was a constant threat despite the attention on him.

Mike Eccles and his Broncos side always knew it was going to be a step up from the Championship when they booked their place at the top table, and such was the case.

From the minute Dean Parata had to screen behind to cover a dangerous kick, Saints served notice of their threat and were brutal in their efficiency.

Time after time they cut London up with line-breaks and late passes releasing players at pace. James Bell served up Dodd's score, and Welsby was released similarly by a peach of a Whitley offload.

In return, London could never quite build enough pressure and field position, while Jack Campagnolo and James Meadows worked hard largely with little reward in the halves.

Clark tiptoed through to release Walmsley a little later in the half, and the finish by Makinson owed everything to Lomax's looping cut-out pass.

For all their points, Saints certainly were not note-perfect as a slew of cheap turnovers and some clunky execution showed throughout, but when they did get their gameplan right it was devastating.

London kept plugging away, and Saints were caught out early after the break when Lee Kershaw's little hack on from Olly Leyland's grubber kick was tracked by Storey to score.

Yet as the visitors toiled to stay in the contest, Saints stepped up a gear. Clark pirouetted through from a dummy-half dart, Whitley screamed through from a Welsby ball, and Konrad Hurrell's bulldozing yomp teed up Lomax.

Whitley finished off the scoring with another left-edge raid for his boyhood club and the handshakes between boss Wellens, Laurent Frayssinous and Matty Smith in the coaches' box were combined with satisfied smiles.

St Helens coach Paul Wellens:

"I'm relatively happy. There is a lot to like about what we did, particularly coming into a game against a bit of an unknown in terms of the opposition we were playing.

"We knew they were going to be competitive and want to show the best version of themselves. I thought they competed really hard.

"We got some joy with some of the things we practised in pre-season and that was pleasing, but there were periods where we dropped our standards a little bit and put ourselves under pressure and we'll have to learn moving forward.

"In Super League you have to be able to do the tough stuff well for long periods. London probably got caught cold by our start to the game but they certainly showed their character with the way they fought back."

London coach Mike Eccles:

"We should have scored a couple more. That score should have been more like 26-10, something like that, but I think our naivety, learning to play at this level against the best in the world, was really evident there.

"I think there was a period in that second half where they were strangling the life out of us.

"That's that next level isn't it? They're all not super-negative 'learns' but we've got to get up to speed quickly."

St Helens: Welsby; Makinson, Hurrell, Percival, Blake; Lomax, Dodd; Walmsley, Clark, Lees, Whitley, Sironen, Bell.

Interchanges: Mata'utia, Wingfield, Delaney, Davies.

London: O Leyland; Kershaw, Storey, Miloudi, Macani; Campagnolo, Meadows; Butler, Davis, Kennedy, Lovell, Adebiyi, Parata.

Interchanges: Stock, Williams, Waine, Davies.

Referee: James Vella.