St Helens' WCC win a 'seismic moment' for Super League
20.2.2023 06:32
St Helens head coach Paul Wellens believes his side's dramatic 13-12 World Club Challenge victory over Penrith Panthers could be a "seismic" moment for English Rugby League.
The Saints sealed a famous win in the most dramatic of circumstances as the game went into golden point extra-time after the Panthers fought back to bring the game to 12-12 through a late Brian To'o try and Nathan Cleary conversion.
However, St Helens half-back Lewis Dodd showed nerves of steel to score a drop goal and cement the Saints into the history books.
It is the first win for a British side in Australia since Wigan Warriors' win over Brisbane Broncos in 1994, and Wellens, who was in charge for the first time since being appointed as head coach of his hometown club, believes that his team secured a "monumental victory" for the Super League competition.
"I remember as a kid watching the Wigan team come over here and beat that great Brisbane side in '94 and, given the fact that a victory like that has never happened since, I think it is obviously a seismic result in British rugby league," said Wellens.
The Saints sealed a famous win in the most dramatic of circumstances as the game went into golden point extra-time after the Panthers fought back to bring the game to 12-12 through a late Brian To'o try and Nathan Cleary conversion.
However, St Helens half-back Lewis Dodd showed nerves of steel to score a drop goal and cement the Saints into the history books.
It is the first win for a British side in Australia since Wigan Warriors' win over Brisbane Broncos in 1994, and Wellens, who was in charge for the first time since being appointed as head coach of his hometown club, believes that his team secured a "monumental victory" for the Super League competition.
"I remember as a kid watching the Wigan team come over here and beat that great Brisbane side in '94 and, given the fact that a victory like that has never happened since, I think it is obviously a seismic result in British rugby league," said Wellens.