Toronto Wolfpack blanked by St Helens for fifth consecutive loss

WARRINGTON, United Kingdom — The Toronto Wolfpack’s tough introduction to English rugby’s top tier continued on Saturday.

The Wolfpack dropped a 32-0 decision to reigning Super League champion St Helens to remain winless through five games.

“To be nilled by such a great defensive team in St Helens, there’s no shame in that,” said Toronto’s Jon Wilkin, a second-row forward. “It was a shame how we attacked. I thought that was our problem. We just couldn’t get it going with the ball.

“Credit to St Helens, they just played with a different intensity to us. But we’re learning. There’s a misconception… I don’t know what people expected of us this year but we’ve just got a lot of learning to do and we’ll do better.”

Toronto (0-5-0) has now faced the top five teams from last year’s standings, with all five fixtures on the road.

Jonny Lomax scored a pair of tries for St Helens, while James Bentley, Louie McCarthy-Scarsbrook, and Aaron Smith had one apiece. Tommy Makinson kicked five conversions and a penalty.

“There’s no easy games in this league. I played with St Helens for 17 years and you never took anything for granted,” Wilkin said. “There’s no easy games in Super League, they’re all tough and none are tougher than these guys tonight. They’ve been the best side in Super League for three years and you can see why.”

Playing in swirling wind and rain at Halliwell Jones Stadium, Toronto completed just eight sets from 16 attempts and missed 10 tackles in the first half, and trailed 20-0 heading into the second.

Josh McCrone was tireless in defence all night for Toronto and looked to create chances when in possession as one of the bright spots for the Wolfpack.

The loss was Toronto’s most lopsided this season. They’ll look to rebound ahead of their sixth-round clash against Leeds Rhinos on Thursday. Leeds are coming off a 36-point win over Warrington Wolves.

The Canadian Press