Saints open new ground with win

Winger Paddy Flynn grabbed a hat-trick of tries but St Helens did enough to retain the Karalius Cup and mark their first match at their Langtree Park stadium with a seven-try 42-24 victory over Widnes.

Flynn, one of only two survivors from the Vikings' Championship team in the starting line-up, enjoyed the distinction of scoring the first try at the sparkling new ground in front of a sell-out crowd of 11,924, down by 6,000 on the capacity for safety reasons.

The lead changed hands five times before late tries from Andrew Dixon, Jamie Foster and Tommy Makinson clinched the win for Saints but Widnes coach Denis Betts will be hugely encouraged by the performance of his new-look side.

The Vikings led 10-0 after 14 minutes and could have got even closer but for an off day with the boot by Patrick Ah Van, who managed to convert just two of his side's five tries.

Foster finished with 18 points but the man-of-the-match award went to New Zealand international Lance Hohaia, who showed his class on his first appearance for Saints.

Meanwhile, Catalan Dragons captain Gregory Mounis and wingers Cyril Stacul and Frederic Vaccari will all miss the start of Super League XVII after sustaining injuries in their 44-22 pre-season friendly victory over London Broncos.

Mounis, who sustained a knee injury in the first minute of the Dragons' second and final trial match at Stade Gilbert Brutus in Perpignan, is set to undergo arthroscopic surgery on Tuesday and will be sidelined for at least three weeks.

Stacul is likely to miss the first first two months of the new season after breaking an ankle in the sixth minute and is expected to undergo surgery on Monday morning.

Vaccari suffered lateral knee ligament damage and will be out for about three weeks.

Clint Greenshields scored a hat-trick of tries, Thomas Bosc grabbed two and Vaccari, Sebastien Raguin and Scott Durea also touched down. Karl Temata had given the Londoners the lead with an eighth-minute try and Tony Clubb also scored before half-time, but they trailed 44-10 until substitute Keiran Dixon scored two late tries.