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St Helens v Wigan Warriors Preview

St Helens welcome their arch-rivals the Wigan Warriors for one of the biggest derbies in world sport.

I am sure that the majority of those reading this know all about how this, along with the horse race, is one of just 2 sporting events that have been given the name derby from the Early of Derby himself and the importance of this game has seen that spread across most other big matches in most other sports.

It is often said that nothing can match the original and when it comes to sporting derbies, that is more often than the case as this is one game that never fails to live up to expectations and those expectations are always incredibly high from both sets of fans.

No matter if you are a supporter of either of these 2 giants of the rugby world or a neutral, this is always one of those occasions that fans of the sport look out for when the fixtures are drawn and look forward to until the match actually come around.

There are a number of reasons for that, from the quality on show, the fantastic atmosphere, and huge crowds to the importance of the match and history of quality games that these 2 have given us down the years.

With both sides having a great mix of superstar internationals, fantastic youngster, and solid Super League pros all if which come together to give us 80 minutes of incredible and exciting rugby league action.

Form

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Stadium

The Totally Wicked Stadium is home to the Saints and is the host for this huge game and what a fitting host venue it is for a game of such magnitude.

The modern stadium has been home to St Helens ever since the 2012 season and over the year it has developed into one of the best stadiums in world rugby.

The ground offers a great mix of corporate facilities as well as large areas of seating and standing and that helps the fans to produce an incredible atmosphere, especially when the game is packed out for matches such as this one.

With Wigan having a large following, both teams have all that they need to be able to produce there absolute best rugby and thankfully on the majority of occasions they do just that.

St Helens v Wigan Warriors Prediction

Here at RLBet, we give out predict for who we think will win and also what we think the winning margin will be but don’t forget that the unpredictable nature of the Super League, this should only be seen as our view.

Prediction

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History

There are some rivalry built on the locations of both clubs, some built on them been the most successful clubs in a competition and some built upon the great battles they have enjoyed down the years and there are some special rivalries that are built on all 3 of these and this is certainly one of the those.

One early battle that moved their rivalry from a local one and exposed it on the national level came in the 1970-71 season when Saints faced off against Wigan in the final of the Rugby Football League Championship Division One.
On that occasion, it was Saints who prevailed and who became the champions of England after a 16 points to 12 victory.

In the 1974-75 season, it was the same outcome as Saints and Wigan were locked in a battle for the tile once again where it was Saints who grabbed the headlines and Wigan who finished runners up.

In the 1986-87 season, Wigan did manage to gain some level of revenge as the 2 sides were the once again the best 2 sides in the country, but on this occasion, it was Wigan who prevailed and picked up the title, with Saints finishing as runners up.

During the 1990’s, it was Wigan who were the dominant force in the country and famously won the final 7 league titles before the summer-era began.

In that run, they had to fend off a challenge from Saints in back to back seasons as it was St Helens who finished runners up in the 1991-92 and 1992-93 seasons.

In the summer-era, it has arguably been Saints who have had the better of things starting in the 2000 Super League Grand Final, when it was St Helens who ran out 29-16 winners in front of a crowd of nearly 60,000 fans.

It didn’t take too long for Wigan to gain revenge on that loss however as the 2 would face off in the 2010 Grand Final where the Warriors would prevail by 22 points to 10 in front of nearly 72,000 fans at Old Trafford.

The 2 would meet once more in the 2014 final, where it was Saints who came out on top by 14 points to 6 in front of over 70,000 fans at the ‘Theatre of Dreams’.

Despite all of those great finals played out between the 2, the most famous arguably came in the 2020 season.

With no fans in attendance and the match played at the KCOM Stadium in Hull, the 2 sides delivered a defensive masterclass that enthralled all those who watched from start to finish but whilst the game was heading to be one of the best in memory, it became one of the greatest finals ever thanks to a last second winners for Saints’ Jack Welsby.

It has not just been over the league title that the 2 have faced off in battle for as the 2 have also met in many big cup matches including the 1960-61 Challenge Cup final at Wembley Stadium where it was St Helens who came away with the silverware after a 12 points to 6 win.

It didn’t take long for the 2 sides to meet in London again as they faced off in the 1965-66 final where it was Saints who once again headed back up north with the trophy after a dominant 21 points to 2 victory.

In the late 1980’s and 1990’s, once again during the domain years of the Warriors, it was Saints who became one of their biggest challengers in the cup as they met in both the 1988-89 and 1990-91 cup finals.

In the former, it was a domain win for Wigan by 27 points to nil but in the latter, Saints pushed them all the way as Wigan ran out winners by 13 points to 8.

In the summer-era, the 2 sides have also enjoyed some classic Wembley Finals including the 2002 final when Wigan picked up the trophy by winning 21 points to 12.

Saints quickly gained revenge however as the 2 next face doff in the 2004 finals, when it was the Red Vee who prevailed 32-16.

It has not just been on the national level where the 2 have battled for titles and trophies however as they have also met in major matches at the country level including the 1953-54 Lancashire Cup when the 2 met in the final played at Station Road Stadium in Swinton where it was Saints who came away with the trophy.

The 2 would also go on to face off in the very last Lancashire Cup final when the 2 battled it out over the full 80 minutes where Wigan just pipped their rivals by 5 points to 4 in a match played at Knowsley Road in St Helens.

Wigan and Saints also gave a fitting farewell to the League Cup, then known as the Regal Trophy, when they faced off in the last final of that tournament in the 1995-96 season when it was the Warriors who ran out the winners by 25 points to 16 in a match played at the then McAlpine Stadium in Huddersfield.