'˜Our defence got us the result'

Kiwi centre Anthony Gelling scored a hat-trick of tries, but it was their work off the ball which really impressed assistant coach John Winder.

The victory ended Saints’ seven-game winning run and prevented them from leapfrogging the Warriors into third

Shaun Wane didn’t attend the post-match press conference, but his assistant Winder said: “The way we defended the line got us the result.

“We lacked composure with the ball at times and made plenty of errors, but our mind-set in defence was top-class.”

Winder reported no fresh injuries and had special praise for hat-trick scorer Gelling, who only returned from a pectoral injury a week ago, adding: “Gells was outstanding at times.

“He always has that quirky pass in him that you don’t want him to throw, but his stats were through the roof.”

Saints coach Keiron Cunningham cursed their errors with the ball.

He said: “If you want to teach a kid how to lose a game of rugby league, that’s the best way of showing them.

“It was all unforced errors and there’s no excuse for them. We were just a bit worse than Wigan were with them.”

The Warriors have no game next weekend because of the Challenge Cup Final, before returning to action the following Thursday with a televised home clash against Widnes on September 1.

Wigan’s final game of the Super 8s, at home to Catalans on Friday September 23, will be marketed as the Big One 6.