St Helens 

1. Paul Atcheson, 14. Chris Smith, 21. Damien Smith, 4. Paul Newlove, 5. Anthony Sullivan, 3. Sean Long, 7. Bobbie Goulding, 8. Apollo Perelini, 9. Keiron Cunningham, 23. Brett Goldspink, 11. Chris Joynt, 13. Paul Sculthorpe, 20. Tommy Martyn.
Interchange: 6. Karle Hammond, 10. Ian Pickavance, 12. Paul Davidson, 25. Paul Anderson.

Tries: (None)
Goals: Bobbie Goulding 1

Wigan were at their imperious best in front of a bumper crowd in Swansea to bring down Super League's Roadshow series in style. It was unfortunate that the biggest crowd of the six-match pioneering programme should witness the most one-sided game as St Helens proved no match for a Wigan side that simply oozed power and class.

An attendance of 8,572 at the Vetch Field took the number of Roadshow fans to 30,387 and ensured a success of the bold venture. While the turn-out, in driving rain, will have encouraged the hopes of the Swansea consortium vying with Cardiff and Gateshead for a Super League franchise, the Welsh public learned little new about the state of the game. Wigan, the dominant force of the late 1980s and early 90s, are back to their peerless best, able to combine brilliant attacking skills with magnificent defence to open up a two-point lead at the top. Saints were simply outclassed and a sixth straight defeat at the hands of the old enemy will only add to the pressure on coach Shaun McRae, who is due to have talks about his future at Knowsley Road on Tuesday.

Inevitably, captain Andy Farrell was at the heart of everything good from the Wigan side, organising and probing intelligently and place kicking with typical accuracy. His tally of 16 points took him through the 400 barrier in a record 36-match scoring run stretching back to last June. A double strike by another Great Britain ace, full-back Kris Radlinski, put Wigan in firm control by half-time. The 22-year-old full-back twice pounced onto slide-rule kicks on the greasy turf to grab tries that put his side 10-2 ahead after 21 minutes. Bobbie Goulding, returning to the St Helens side after injury, pulled two points back with an 11th-minute penalty.

But when former Saints centre Gary Connolly sidestepped past Karle Hammond for a third try after half an hour and Farrell kicked his third goal, Wigan were coasting at 18-2. The passions normally associated with the biggest derby in British rugby league were evident from the second minute when the usually cool Farrell took exception to a high challenge from Damien Smith and lashed out with a right hook. And Simon Haughton (Wigan) and Keiron Cunningham (St Helens) were sent to the sin-bin after a flare-up just before the break. Saints lost full-back Paul Atcheson at half-time and their play went from bad to worse as Wigan made light of the difficult handling conditions to run in three further tries. Farrell ran onto a pass from lively scrum-half Tony Smith to touch down and the former player then pounced twice in five minutes to take his Super League try tally for the season to nine and pile on the misery for their arch-rivals.

St Helens 2 Wigan 18

8,572

Stuart Cummings (Widnes)

Live Coverage on Sky Sports 1