Saints see off battling Hull

The visitors withstood a barrage of pressure in the second half as Hull, stung after the departure of coach Peter Sharp last week, produced a performance that belied their 11th place in the table.

Saints led 10-4 at half-time after Jon Wilkin and Ste Tyrer tries but it was not until Leon Pryce barged over after the hour their victory began to look secure. Kirk Yeaman and Gareth Raynor scored tries for the home side.

Gareth Hock put in another man-of-the-match performance in front of the watching England coach Tony Smith as Wigan ground out a hard-fought 38-30 victory at Wakefield.

The Warriors have had a patchy record at Belle Vue in recent years but they recovered after falling 6-0 and 12-6 behind early on to edge in front 14-12 at the interval.

Stand-in skipper Trent Barrett created three tries after the break to seal the points for Wigan, despite a late onslaught from the Wildcats, for whom Danny Brough was instrumental.

But it was Hock who caught the eye after making a mountain of yards in attack and coming up with his side's fifth try of the afternoon, as the Warriors warmed up for next weekend's Carnegie Challenge Cup trip to Leeds with a confidence-boosting away win.

Elsewhere, Hull KR new-boy Michael Dobson produced an impressive performance to help his side come from behind to claim to a 22-8 victory over Harlequins.

The Australian joined from Canberra Raiders having had previous spells with Wigan and Catalan Dragons and was handed his first start at Craven Park.

And the 21-year-old showed some good touches on his debut, opening his account with two tries as Rovers fought back from a half-time deficit.