By George Newell

It was a disappointing weekend for Merseyside teams as St Helens, Warrington Wolves and Widnes Vikings all lost.

All three teams have made promising starts to their respective campaigns but suffered setbacks in Round 6 of the season.

The most notable was three-time defending champions St Helens losing their first game of the season – to Toulouse Olympique.

When Kristian Woolf’s side made the long trip to the south of France, very few would have predicted anything other than a Saints win.

The Merseyside outfit had made a formidable start to the 2022 season, winning their first five games.

The first of which was an eye-catching 28-8 win over Catalan Dragons, winners of the League Leaders’ Shield in 2021, which kick-started Saints’ search for an unprecedented fourth successive Super League title.

Toulouse on the other hand have struggled to adapt to life in the Super League, following their promotion from the Championship last year.

Sylvain Houles’ side had lost their first five games in the top-flight, shipping 159 points in the process.

They had shown some signs of improvement in their narrow 28-29 defeat to an in-form Wigan Warriors.

However, no one could have foreseen that it would be followed by a 22-20 victory over the nine-time Super League champions in their next home game.

Toulouse made a flying start, with Matty Russell scoring virtually from kick-off, but when Saints fought back to go 18-12 up it looked as though the writing was on the walls.

But, the hosts were determined not to lie down and tries from Chris Hankinson and Paul Marcon, the latter coming three minutes from time, were enough to secure the club’s first ever Super League victory.

Meanwhile, Warrington suffered a 22-38 loss at home to Wakefield Trinity.

The defeat marks a third consecutive defeat for new Head Coach Daryl Powell, and the three impressive wins that kick-started their season now feel like a lifetime ago.

It is worth mentioning the first two of those defeats came against Saints and Catalan, the two best teams in the division.

However, Wakefield came to the Halliwell Jones as considerable underdogs with just one league win to their name.

At half-time, the game was all tied up at 18-18 but a dominant second half performance from the Yorkshire outfit saw them earn a crucial win, which would become even more valuable when relegation rivals Toulouse went and did the unthinkable.

Finally, in the Championship, Widnes came away empty-handed from their trip to York City Knights.

Vikings have made a strong start to the season, as they attempt to get back into rugby league’s top-flight.

However, a 32-6 defeat across the Pennines provided a daunting insight as to the challenge that faces them.

The Knights’ six tries, including two from Matty Marsh, were more than enough to inflict a second straight loss on Simon Finnigan’s team.

Despite this, Widnes still sit fourth in the Betfred Championship – just three points behind league leaders Featherstone, and they will be hoping to get back to winning ways when they make the long trip to Newcastle Thunder on April 4.

(Featured image by robhollandemu – wikimedia commons)

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