ST HELENS: SOUTH Sydney Rabbitohs ensured a clean sweep for Australia in the World Club Series as they hammered St Helens a record 39-0 at Langtree Park on Sunday to lift the World Club Challenge title thanks to an all-star showing from Greg Inglis and Adam Reynolds.
The Saints had hoped to join an exclusive list that includes Sydney Roosters, Wigan, Leeds and Bradford by claiming a third World Club Challenge title but after 25 minutes that dream had disintegrated as Sydney raced into an 18-0 lead.
History was against Saints prior to kick-off; five of the past six world finals have been won by Australian sides, including the Roosters' defeat of Wigan in Sydney last year.
The Rabbitohs enjoyed a dream start as after only two minutes Glenn Stewart touched down - St Helens never recovered from the early score.
Stewart reacted quickest to a Reynolds kick ahead and beat Jordan Turner to the ball - referee Richard Silverwood initially ruled out the effort but the video referee overturned the decision.
Souths extended their lead on eight minutes to 8-0 thanks to a penalty from Reynolds as St Helens forward Joe Greenwood was penalised for an illegal ball steal.
St Helens thought they had created a lifeline on 11 minutes as Mark Percival felt he had grounded the ball but the video referee ruled out his effort.
And that was about as good as it got for St Helens for the remainder of the first half as Sydney started to show their class as they ran riot.
The Rabbitohs punished St Helens soon after as they scored their second try on 20 minutes; Reynolds comfortably eluded Jordan Turner, before offloading to Dylan Walker to score.
And three minutes later Sydney scored try number three as Inglis, who has racked up 31 tries in 33 internationals for Australia, ghosted over from close range after Souths worked the ball out to the left.
With only 31 minutes gone in the World Club Challenge and the game was effectively all but over as John Sutton's lofted kick took an unfortunate bounce for the Saints defenders, bounced along the try line and Joel Reddy collected it to touch down, with Reynolds slotting over the goal.
With watching owner and Hollywood actor Russell Crowe in the stands; Souths sparkled as they absorbed late pressure in the first half from Saints but held firm to reach the interval at 24-0.
Sydney did survive a second crucial decision from the video referee in the dying seconds of the half as Percival was adjudged to have lost the ball forward as he stretched for the line.
No club has won more SuperLeague titles, with only Leeds able to match their six, and nobody has finished top of the pile in the competition as many times as St Helens have, with seven table-topping campaigns since 1996.
But despite their envious domestic record, the gulf in class was obvious for all to see in a very one-sided opening half dominated by Sydney.
It took Sydney just seven minutes of the second half to add their fifth score of the evening; on the last tackle the impressive Reynolds put a kick up, the ball ricocheted in the Saints in-goal area and Luke Keary was on hand to react quickest and touchdown.
Saints were much improved after the break and thought they had a score of their own on 55 minutes but with the try line beckoning Tommy Makinson was bundled into touch by three Rabbitohs defenders.
The miss proved costly for St Helens as Sydney went straight down the other end and scored try number six of the evening - giant Chris McQueen barging through weak Saints tackling to score from close range - Issac Luke, taking over the kicking duties, put his effort wide.
And the evening went from bad to worse for St Helens on 65 minutes as Joel Reddy scored his second try of the game out wide for Sydney, diving over in the corner after a period of sustained pressure for the Australians to leave the score at 38-0.
The icing on the cake for Sydney came in the final minutes as Reynolds dropped a late goal to take the score to 39-0 and with it he created a new record - the winning margin was the largest in the competition's history.
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