Francis Meli, Sia Soliola and Lance Hohaia all scored tries as St Helens defeated Hull KR 46-10 in their Super League elimination play-off on Saturday.
Meli started the rout in the 10th minute with Adam Swift touching down the first of his hat-trick moments later as the Saints ran in eight tries in total against a stunned Hull KR outfit.
Soliola grabbed his score in the 16th minute with Hohaia following suit after the break as Jordan Turner, who slotted seven goals, and Tom Makinson also dotted down.
Hull KR actually took the lead through Liam Salter in the fourth minute but they were no match for St Helens and added just a second try late on through Craig Hall.
With fifth to eighth from the regular Super League season contesting elimination play-off matches, St Helens now join Hull FC in advancing to the preliminary semi-finals.
There the Saints and Hull FC, who defeated Catalan Dragons, will face Leeds and Huddersfield respectively after their losses in the first to fourth qualifying play-off matches.
League Leaders’ Shield winners Huddersfield lost to Wigan, while second-placed Warrington beat Leeds with the Warriors and Wolves progressing to the outright semi-finals and enjoying a week off.
Tony Smith’s Warrington were indebted to Ben Westwood’s four tries against Leeds.
The 32-year-old grabbed two in each half with Warrington running in seven in total — Simon Grix, Lee Briers, who also kicked three goals, and Ryan Atkins with the others.
That gave the Wolves a 40-20 victory and now a week off.
Former Australia international Steve Menzies’s career officially came to a close as Catalan Dragons fell to a 14-4 defeat to Hull FC.
Jamie Shaul and fit-again skipper Gareth Ellis, who returned to Hull from NRL outfit Wests Tigers for this season, scored the decisive tries on a rain-swept night at the KC Stadium.
Catalans, who were missing Scott Dureau through injury, could only manage two Thomas Bosc goals as veteran Menzies’s storied career failed to end on the high it deserved.
Menzies, a stalwart at Manly in NRL, first appeared in Super League in 2009 with Bradford Bulls before switching to the Dragons to link up with fellow Australian Trent Robinson two years later.
Robinson left France for the NRL and the coaching job at Sydney Roosters at the end of last season.
Menzies will return to Australia as a club ambassador at Manly.
Australian duo Blake Green and Pat Richards starred as Wigan Warriors demonstrated that winning the League Leaders’ Shield means little with a 22-8 qualifying play-off win over Huddersfield Giants.
Wigan scored 14 answered points after going in at half-time level at 8-8, with Josh Charnley, his second, and Green going over for tries and Richards converting both.
Charnley’s double against Huddersfield, who ended the season on top, took him to 41 tries for the season — breaking the record of 39 jointly held by Lesley Vainikolo and Danny McGuire.
