SKY SPORTS pundit Phil Clarke has made a shock “cheating” claim against St Helens following the club’s 14-12 win over Huddersfield Giants last night.
Saints prop Matty Lees was interviewed following the game live on Sky Sports after being awarded the man of the match award for an incredible defensive display.
Lees praised his side’s defence and willingness to concede six agains which prompted Phil Clarke to take aim at Saints as well as the governing body’s reluctance to act.
“Maybe when they’re prepared to defend on their own try line, maybe one of the reasons why Huddersfield and other teams can’t score against St Helens is that they’d rather slow down the opposition and concede six more tackles in their belief that ‘we will defend, as long as it’s not quick, we can defend our try line for two minutes’,” Clarke said.
“Maybe that’s something that the game’s administrators needs to look at.”
During the post-match analysis, Clarke went further, claiming Saints had “effectively cheated” to win a game against Salford in the 2022 season.
“They played a game last year against Salford at the end where they effectively cheated at the end to win the match in the league match and called on the rulings to be tweaked that would result in stronger sanctions.
“I do think that the game needs to be stricter at penalising sides that are purposefully holding down players or concede penalties or six agains near to their own try line.
“We need to see more yellow cards for that type of behaviour.”
