CURRENT Super League champions St Helens climbed to the top of the table after beating Wigan Warriors by 30 points to 14 on Friday night.

It was a rematch of last season’s grand final, in which Wigan’s Ben Flowers was sent off for that horrific attack on Lance Hohaia, and a game which was described as the closest Super League gets to rugby league’s showcase State of Origin series in Australia.

While it would be difficult for any game to live up to this billing, Saints and Wigan put on a good show in a typically bruising encounter.

The half-time score was 8-10 in the Warriors’ favour but the game appeared to turn in the second half when Saints captain Jon Wilkin suffered a couple of blows to the head which required substantial bandaging to stop the flow of blood.

Wilkin was aggrieved that no action was taken by the referee, so instead took things into his own hands, spurring his team on to win.

Errors from Matty Bowen and Dan Sarginson gifted two tries to Saints in the last 15 minutes.

Bowen spilled a high kick from Wilkin and Shannon McDonnell picked up the pieces to score, then a loose pass from Dan Sarginson allowed Wilkin to kick through and score a well deserved four-pointer of his own.

Saints’ rise to the top of the table was partly down to Castleford’s 31-24 win over Leeds at Headingley on Thursday.

The Tigers were 18-0 up at one stage but the Rhinos came back into the game to set up an entertaining finish.

Cas’s win was sealed by Denny Solomona, who crossed for his second try of the game with around five minutes remaining.

On Saturday it was Hull FC’s turn to travel to France to play Catalans, where the Dragons were able to maintain their excellent home record with a 20-14 victory.

Two tries late in the first half put Catalans in the driving seat, with Thomas Bosc impressing on his return to the side.

Sunday’s matches saw Huddersfield defeat Warrington Wolves by 30 points to 19 in a game which witnessed three drop goals and four yellow cards.

Hull KR triumphed 38-16 at home to Widnes, while it was Salford’s turn to beat bottom of the table Wakefield.