Joe Burgess scored a stunning first-half hat-trick - his first for Hull Kingston Rovers - on the way to four tries for himself, as they thrashed St Helens 42-6.

Rovers - who bagged eight tries - sealed their first win at St Helens since 2013 and set a club-record of seven successive Super League wins. Willie Peters' men went into the game on top of the table and lived up to their billing with a 10th win in 11. Saints were depleted but, make no mistake, Rovers produced a champion performance.

What a message to send out to chasing Wigan Warriors, who face Hull FC tomorrow. Following on from the win at Warrington and the thrashing of Catalans, they surpassed many people's expectations here again with the manner of this win. They have taken another step towards the League Leaders' Shield and fully merit being spoken about in that bracket.

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It was a nightmare start for St Helens after a miscommunication between George Whitby and Jonny Vaughan led to the ball being spilled - and Rovers took advantage. The early try came after a sweeping move from left to right, involving great work by Niall Evalds, and Hiku then finding Joe Burgess, who went over in the right-hand corner, with an impressive finish.

It got even worse for Saints when a high shot from Waqa Blake on Jack Broadbent led to him being sin-binned - and that flashpoint caused a melee that again involved Mikey Lewis, but this time you could understand his reaction. And Rovers were further in front when Hall galloped clear and picked out the supporting Lewis to finish to expose gaping space.

More soft defence from Saints meant Rovers went in for a third try as May dummied and went over for a high-quality piece of execution. And the easy kick from Lewis meant he had two from three; a start that should have helped his confidence after recent issues with the boot. Try number four came when another eye-catching move from left to right ended in Hiku expertly picking out Burgess for his second try. It was horrible to watch for the Saints fans and dreamy stuff for Rovers.

It could have been even worse for Saints when Matt Parcell darted over but his effort was disallowed for a forward pass by May. And it did get worse before the break when Burgess completed his hat-trick, a long-distance effort as he raced down the right flank and saw off more poor home defending.

It felt like the game had been sown up by the time the second half got under way, and Lewis started causing more problems with his kicking in open play. Rovers eventually went over for another try when Kelepi Tanginoa barged through from close range.

Saints to their credit showed some better intent in attack and defence after that blow and got some reward when debutant George Whitby pounced for a try and then added the extras. Evalds failed to deal with the kick in the build-up to the try but, aside from that, the Rovers full back was very impressive.

Burgess had try number four though when he squeezed over in the corner after another beauty of a ball from May in the build-up. Saints' day then got worse when Tommy Makinson was sent off for a high shot on Tyrone May, shoulder to head with no mitigation. And Jai Whitbread then had the final say, touching down the eighth Rovers try.

St Helens: 33 Harry Robertson, 2 Tommy Makinson, 3 Waqa Blake, 30 Jonny Vaughan, 25 Tee Ritson, 6 Jonny Lomax, 35 George Whitby, 20 George Delaney, 14 Moses Mbye, 10 Matty Lees, 19 Matt Whitley, 11 Sione Mata'utia, 12 Joe Batchelor. Subs: 17 Agnatius Paasi, 22 Sam Royle, 24 Jake Burns, 31 Noah Stephens. 18th man: Ben Davies.

Hull KR: 2 Niall Evalds, 35 Joe Burgess, 1 Peta Hiku, 36 Jack Broadbent, 5 Ryan Hall, 27 Tyrone May, 7 Mikey Lewis, 8 Jesse Sue, 14 Matt Parcell, 16 Jai Whitbread, 11 Dean Hadley, 12 James Batchelor, 13 Elliot Minchella. Subs: 9 Jez Litten, 15 Sam Luckley, 17 Matty Storton, 20 Kelepi Tanginoa. 18th man: Jack Brown.

Scorers: St Helens tries: Whitby. Goals: Whitby 1/1.

Scorers: Hull KR tries: Burgess (4), Lewis, May, Tanginoa, Whitbread. Goals: Lewis 5/8.

Scoring sequence: 0-4, 0-10, 0-16, 0-20, 0-26, HT, 0-32, 6-32, 6-36, 6-42.

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