Rhinos batter shattered Saints

Carroll was on great form for Leeds

Leeds 74-16 St Helens

Leeds notched up their biggest victory over St Helens as the Grand slam winners came crashing to earth in the Super League on Friday.

The Rhinos ran riot with 13 tries, four of them from New Zealand international centre Tonie Carroll, as Saints capitulated in front of a stunned 15,702 crowd at Headingley.

Leeds hit their best form of the season to avenge their Challenge Cup semi-final defeat and also make up for their humiliating 62-18 thrashing at Knowsley Road three days after their own 1999 Cup final triumph.

Full-back Francis Cummins claimed a hat-trick and skipper Iestyn Harris scored the 2,000th point of his career with the second of his 11 goals as Leeds went past their previous highest score against Saints, a 50-14 victory in 1989-90, with ease.

When you get beat, we are all in this together

Ian Millward

Saints were completely out of sorts and have now conceded 130 points in their last two League matches and lie a worrying four points adrift of pacesetters Bradford.

St Helens, without Lance Todd Trophy winner Tommy Martyn and two other key backs from their Twickenham triumph, made a dream start, with left winger Anthony Sullivan getting on the end of a superb seven-man passing move to score the first try after only six minutes.

But Leeds showed the confidence gained from three successive wins, produced some sparkling rugby to establish a commanding 22-point lead by half-time.

Saints simply had no answer to the awesome running of Carroll or his co-centre Keith Senior as the Rhinos ran in six first-half tries and had two others disallowed.

It was Senior who sparked the Leeds extravaganza, tearing 70 metres upfield straight from a scrum and leaving Sean Hoppe and Steve Hall grasping at thin air.

The Great Britain centre also laid on a try for Cummins while makeshift scrum-half Karl Pratt sidestepped full-back Tony Stewart to grab a touchdown following a barnstorming run from the highly-impressive Anthony Farrell.

They were sensational, I couldn't ask for more

Daryl Powell

But it was Carroll who stole the show, destroying Saints with his second hat-trick of the season, which came in a magnificent 19-minute spell.

The final whistle came as merciful relief to Saints, who conceded a mammoth 30 points in the final quarter.

Afterwards, St Helens coach Ian Millward put a brave face on it.

He said: "I thought we were ready to go but maybe we weren't.

"I'm not blaming anyone. When you get beat, we are all in this together. I am definitely not about to lose my faith in the players."

Leeds coach Daryl Powell could hardly contain his delight.

"I thought it was a top-quality effort," he said. "They were sensational, I couldn't ask for more. I don't think it mattered who we were playing tonight. We would have beaten anyone."