Saints strong in City Reds triumph

St Helens shrugged off the absence of joint captains Paul Wellens and James Graham to record a 56-22 win and pile on the agony for Salford, who have conceded 98 points in their first two matches of the Engage Super League season.

Angry Reds fans called for the sacking of coach Shaun McRae after a second successive shambolic performance from a new-look Salford side who began the campaign with high hopes after a close-season spending spree but already look set for a battle to avoid the wooden spoon.

The star of the show for Saints was Kyle Eastmond, who grabbed two of seven first-half tries and was denied a hat-trick after the break when Salford defender Stefan Ratchford got back to intercept a pass from Jonny Lomax meant for the England international.

Eastmond, rumoured to be on his way to rugby union, was back to his sparkling best after a quiet opening game against Wigan and he was not on his own as Saints, led by the outstanding James Roby, bossed the show from the kick-off.

Stand-off Lee Gaskell caught the eye on his second full appearance in Super League and England centre Michael Shenton scored his first try for the club.

Meanhwile, a strong and slick Leeds Rhinos secured their seventh successive win over Hull to give new coach Brian McDermott two victories from as many games from a 32-18 triumph.

The KC Stadium has long been a happy hunting ground for the Rhinos and this fifth-straight win by the River Humber was achieved on the back of a fine display of movement of the ball amongst their back division and the durability of their pack.

They scored four tries before the break through Brent Webb, Ryan Hall, Rob Burrow and Ben Jones-Bishop, taking advantage of Hull's brittle defence, and added two more after it from Chris Clarkson and Weller Hauraki to add further weight to the theory they are playing a more expansive style under McDermott than they did under predecessor Brian McClennan.

Hull, who were also beaten in their season-opener last weekend, were woeful for large parts of the game and even the half-time introduction of new half-back Sam Obst did little to improve their performance. Were it not for two tries from the tireless former Australia prop Mark O'Meley they would have lost by more, but even he was eclipsed by another ex-Kangaroo.

Leeds hooker Danny Buderus has spent an injury-ravaged two years in England, but, having played the full 80 minutes last weekend, produced a stellar display - the highlight of which was a wonderful reverse pass to lay on a debut try for Hauraki.