Wigan Warriors handed St Helens a 38-16 derby thumping on Friday night, avenging their Easter defeat and piling pressure on an opposition still finding its feet after a turbulent week (Super League).

The match, an 8pm kick-off at Wigan's Brick Community Stadium on 24 July 2026, was St Helens' first under interim head coach Eamon O'Carroll. He stepped in following the departure of Paul Rowley — a situation O'Carroll himself publicly acknowledged, referencing "what went on with Rowls" in the build-up to the game (BBC Sport).

Across the dugout, Matt Peet's Wigan side looked sharp from the off. The return of Bevan French, back in the lineup after a period on the sidelines, gave the Warriors a cutting edge they had lacked in the Easter meeting — the first derby of the season, which St Helens had won (Sky Sports).

French's presence told directly in the second half. St Helens half-back Jackson Hastings was sin-binned for pulling back the Wigan speedster as he chased a potential try, the referee Liam Moore sending him to the bin for ten minutes. In rugby league, a sin-bin means a player sits out for ten minutes, leaving their side a player short — a significant disadvantage in a sport built on numerical mismatches (BBC Sport).

Hastings' yellow was compounded by a moment of controversy earlier in the contest. Harry Robertson thought he had crossed for a St Helens try, given on the field by Moore, only for video referee Jack Smith to overturn the call on review. The try was chalked off, and the decision drew visible frustration from the Saints bench (BBC Sport).

Zach Eckersley's scoring streak continued regardless of the result. He crossed for his 30th try of the season during the match — a remarkable individual haul that underlines his value to the St Helens backline even on a night when little else went right (BBC Sport).

Not that St Helens lacked fight entirely. In one first-half sequence, their left-edge scrambling defence forced Wigan's Adam Keighran to knock the ball on during a repeat set on the Saints try line — a repeat set being a fresh set of six tackles (rugby league's equivalent of a fresh set of downs in American football) awarded when the attacking team is dominant. That defensive stand kept the scoreline respectable for a spell (St Helens).

For St Helens, this was a second heavy blow in quick succession. Their Challenge Cup campaign ended with a painful semi-final defeat shortly after that Easter derby win over Wigan. The club's season is now in danger of drifting, with an interim coach at the helm and a points deficit to make up in the Super League table (BBC Sport).

For Wigan, the picture looks altogether brighter. A commanding derby win, the return of a game-breaking full-back in French, and a head coach in Peet who has his squad purring at the right end of the season. If these two meet again in the play-offs, St Helens will need to find a different gear entirely.