Super League play-off semi-final: Hull KR 20-12 St Helens

Oliver Gildart’s two second-half tries kept Hull KR on course for the treble by seeing off St Helens in the Super League play-off semi-final.

The Robins set up a rematch of last season’s Grand Final against Wigan Warriors next Saturday (18:00 BST) with a powerful first-half display and then withstood the inevitable Saints fightback in the second half.

Mikey Lewis opened the scoring and then Gildart brilliantly set up Joe Burgess as Rovers made the most of having the winds of Storm Amy at their backs in the opening 40 minutes.

Deon Cross hit back after the break for Saints, but Gildart’s double meant that a late Harry Robertson try could not stop their march towards Old Trafford.

Neither side had been in great form going into the match at Craven Park, with Rovers uncharacteristically having lost two of their past five games in the regular season.

While they had 16 days off since their last game, Saints gave themselves a pick-me-up last week with their frantic, brilliant late win over Leeds Rhinos.

Paul Wellens’ side ran into a Robins team which gave them nothing in the first half, keeping them penned into their own final third.

When Saints cracked, and Jack Welsby was sin-binned for grabbing a handful of Jez Litten’s shirt as he kick-chased, the home side were ruthless as Arthur Mourgue kicked the resulting penalty and then Burgess passed inside for Lewis to scoot over for his 20th Super League try of the season.

Gildart then took a hand either side of half-time, firstly pumping out a pass when he was tackled short of the line to give Burgess an easy finish and then scoring two of his own after Saints threatened to make a game of it.

Saints had found the relentless Robins and the strong wind in their faces impossible to negotiate, but they came out with renewed optimism after the break.

That looked to be well-placed as Saints pressed hard and when they ran it on the last tackle Cross threw a dummy that suckered Mourgue and saw him race over, with Jonny Lomax’s conversion putting them within a score of the Robins.

The momentum seemed to be with Wellens’ team, but they were perhaps too pumped up, giving away three successive penalties to concede territory and build the opposition’s morale back up.

Gildart was on hand for a simple try when Lewis, kicking better into the wind than St Helens had done, lobbed one up for Burgess to knock back into his hands, and eight minutes later he latched onto a Lewis pass for his second.

Robertson raced through a gap to score and Lomax converted to introduce an element of doubt, but the Robins saw the game out to set up a second consecutive appearance in the Grand Final, just nine years after they suffered the ignominy of relegation.