St Helens once again overcome their mounting injury list to win as they beat Toulouse Olympique 30-16 in France, holding off a late comeback from their hosts.

Paul Rowley’s side was much-changed from last week after HIAs for Daryl Clark and Jake Burns as well as an injury to Curtis Sironen but they set off the best, scoring after just four minutes before scoring four more in the first half to lead 28-0.

Toulouse didn’t get on the scoresheet until the 60th minute but once they did, they piled the pressure on but ultimately fell short with Jackon Hastings’ late penalty the final score.. We’ve picked out some of the major talking points after Saints’ 30-16 win.

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Toulouse Olympique v St Helens talking points

Saints overcome huge injury list

Despite being favourites for the game, this was a clear banana skin for St Helens given their massive injury list and the huge rest advantage that Toulouse had having not played in the Challenge Cup last week, however, it was Saints who looked the fresher.

They raced into a lead after just four minutes and did not relent until half-time, at which point Toulouse managed to get themselves together and mount some form of performance in the second half.

It’s yet another game where Saints have overcome their injury issues and put in a brilliant performance, something that you feel will galvanise them for later in the year when they’re in the true tough tests.

Off-contract star sends message

Tristan Sailor is a man on fire at the moment and tonight was another example of that. The off-contract playmaker was central to all things positive that St Helens did with his lightning break setting up the first try.

He then went one better with his assist for David Klemmer’s try as he jumped highest to somehow claim the ball whilst then also being able to throw an offload to the forward in a feat of incredible athleticism.

There still isn’t huge clarity over his best position as he often occupied the full-back role but with his deal expiring at the end of the year, Saints won’t care about the specifics and they’ll surely just want to re-sign the gamebreaking talent.

Ruck speed exposed again?

There certainly was a need to make the ruck faster but at times when a team takes control, the ruck is simply too fast and leads to a farcical scoreline. That was evident in the first half as St Helens seized the initiative and Toulouse simply could not get back into it.

Sylvain Houles’ side found themselves in a cycle that they simply couldn’t break, something we’ve seen happen to Hull KR in Las Vegas among other clubs. In games where there is a gap in quality, the ruck speed just exacerbates this matter and doesn’t allow for a competitive affair.

Proof of this was the fact that when Toulouse were able to actually reset at half time, they came out and put in a good performance and were not blitzed as they had been in the first 40 minutes, managing to win the second stanza 16-2.

George Whitby joins injury list

Subbed on in the 49th minute, young half George Whitby was leaving the field alongside a physio in the 50th minute after his first involvement saw him suffer a head knock when attempting to tackle Toulouse’s forward Rob Butler.

Butler and others immediately showed concern and prevented Whitby from sitting up with the physios called on to assess Whitby, who would leave the field and then subsequently fail his HIA. It means he’ll miss next week’s game as he becomes the latest St Helens man to join the list of unavailable players.