Sydney Roosters are World Club champions after Manu mauls St Helens

Sydney Roosters will wake up on Sunday morning and know they were in a battle with the Super League champions, St Helens; but in the end this was a familiar outcome and a brutal lesson in the supreme quality possessed by the NRL’s standard-bearers. Trent Robinson’s side are the first team in World Club Challenge history to defend the title which is no mean feat.

But how they were pushed every step of the way by St Helens after a performance in which they enjoyed the greater periods of pressure and possession but could not make their field position count. The Roosters absorbed a huge amount of pressure while leading 8-6 for the entirety of the third quarter and struck when it mattered.

Joseph Manu’s second try shortly after the hour was a decisive moment that took the sting out of St Helens’ challenge. Before that they had spurned numerous gilt-edged opportunities to go back ahead, having earlier led thanks to an early Luke Thompson try, though the Roosters’ defence was of the highest quality.

“For periods in both halves we were well on top, but our execution let us down,” conceded the St Helens coach, Kristian Woolf.

“We created plenty of opportunities, we bombed a couple by not making the catch and in a big game like this against a good team you’ve got to make those plays.”

Coaches often talk about games of rugby league being won and lost in the middle of the park, but the difference here came on the edges. The St Helens enforcers, led by Thompson and Alex Walmsley, did a superb job of taking the game to their Sydney counterparts all evening long, but in the crucial moments the Roosters’ superiority out wide was decisive.

That was evident at both ends of the field – though how different several of the opportunities the Saints spurned might have been if some of their regular strike three-quarters such as Mark Percival and Regan Grace were not absent due to injuries. For the majority of the second half it was predominantly St Helens who were on top as they chased the points that would have put them ahead, but they could not make their superiority count.

Much credit goes to the Roosters, though, who overturned that early Thompson try with scores from Manu and Daniel Tupou to lead 8-6 at half-time. Both were precise finishes, and of the highest quality.

“I’m really proud of the club, to do what we’ve done,” Robinson said. “They’re a special group, but it was a tough game.“

There were plenty of moments of promise for St Helens either side of the interval including chances for both the home wingers, Tommy Makinson and Matty Costello.

But neither could take their opportunity and, despite being camped on the Roosters line for 20 minutes non-stop, St Helens could not earn any further points. By the time they did with seconds remaining the damage had been well and truly done.

In a rare sojourn into St Helens territory Manu underlined the Roosters’ superiority on the edges by crossing for his second. It was a moment that seemed to take the sting out of the Saints and, after Makinson wasted another chance shortly afterwards, a breakaway led to Luke Keary crossing.

Two goals from the boot of Siosiua Taukeiaho put the result beyond any doubt, although it was perhaps fitting that the Saints’ endeavour over the course of the evening led to them scoring the final try of the evening, when Walmsley forced his way over from close range.

By then, though, the result had long since been decided.