George Williams: Warrington’s defensive display in cup win over St Helens delights captain

Warrington’s ability to repel St Helens and book their Challenge Cup semi-final spot in Sunday’s tie was a satisfying aspect, said captain George Williams.

Williams and his team-mates kept Saints to just one try from Konrad Hurrell, while scoring five of their own.

The England skipper rounded off an impressive win with his try, having already made some telling contributions in keeping Saints away from points.

“Our defence was probably most pleasing,” Williams told BBC Sport.

“We worked hard on it in the pre-season. They’ve got strike all over the pitch and we nullified a lot of it.”

Matty Ashton’s stunning acrobatic finish at the corner was the pick of the tries, as Warrington turned a tight encounter in their favour with a wave of points towards the end.

Josh Thewlis had started the scoring before Saints replied through Hurrell, but Ashton, centre Connor Wrench and prop James Harrison racked up the points before ex-Wigan half Williams sealed it in the final minutes.

“It was really pleasing to come home strong at the end,” Williams added.

“They are a top team. It was a good performance, it was in the balance for a fairly long time, it was a good game to watch and was tough out there.”

Huddersfield will be Warrington’s semi-final opponents, a side that Tony Smith’s 2009 Wire line-up beat at Wembley.

The Giants have not lifted the trophy since 1953, albeit they were finalists in 2022, while Warrington’s last cup triumph was against Saints in 2019.

“It’ll be great – they beat Catalans pretty convincingly yesterday,” Williams said of facing Huddersfield.

“It’ll be a great tie and we’ll be looking forward to that one.”