PAUL ROWLEY questioned the effort of his St Helens team after a 46-0 home defeat to Toulouse Olympique.

Saints, who have a threadbare squad, fell out of the play-off places with the loss, putting fresh pressure on coach Rowley who admitted this was: “Embarrassing from start to finish, if I’m being honest. 

“It’s what’s between the ears, isn’t it? It’s non-negotiable in sport to play with the right attitude. Effort doesn’t require talent, and there was a lack of effort at times. 

“I could go on and on. A lot of that will remain indoors, but I’ve got to acknowledge it for our supporters. 

“I can’t ignore and pretend anything other than that, but it’ll run a lot deeper than that, I can assure you. 

“To get to this arena, you need to have a certain level of professionalism, a certain level of desire and care.

“The Saints badge connects the group and should bring the best out of everybody because there’s an expectation and there’s a history that we have to uphold.”

Toulouse coach Sylvain Houles said: “I thought we played really well. 

“We were really focused on us and our performance. We were clinical with our direction. I thought our organisation was terrific. Everyone knows their roles and their job inside our attack. 

“In the three games before Catalans, we missed Olly a little bit. He gives that confidence to everyone and he’s got that X-factor. 

“He sees things before everyone else and he’s so elusive. The boys go on the back of him after, so it’s good to see him play like that. 

“Mathieu Jussaume has been terrific. He’s a really smart player, he reads very well in defence, he’s got a very good rugby mind and he’s in terrific shape. 

“It’s a statement win. We played the full 80 minutes and were relentless.”