THEO Fages golden point winner was a reward for all his hours of practice on the training field.

With Hull KR levelling the scores at 20-20 to send it into added time, it took a drop goal from the Frenchman to snatch the win after Lachlan Coote’s first attempt had gone wide.

It was a good return for the scrum half, in his first game back after a knee injury.

Coach Kristian Woolf said: “Theo played really well off the back of a couple of weeks out.

“He always does a good job but tonight was a good reward for a bloke who practises that every single week and most training sessions he practises that and that is why he looked so comfortable doing that tonight.”

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It ensured that Saints maintained their winning start to the season – but has given them things to tighten up for next week’s Challenge Cup tie against Warrington.

What made it tougher was losing Kevin Naiqama three minutes from full time for a high tackle on Kane Linnett.

“It was a good tough game but at times we made it harder on ourselves than we needed it to be, but it was good to be able to find a way to win like that, and to do it with 12 men,” Woolf said.

“I thought our defence in that period with 12 men was terrific we did not allow any opportunities for the field goal on the back of our defence.”

Woolf did highlight Saints sloppy play and poor discipline in a factor in not being able to break down the defence, despite having plenty of possession.

“I thought all night our discipline was poor, a lot of little play the ball errors – and there were at least six of those. There were a few loose carries and errors in the ruck and we lost our way a few times,” he said.

“Every time we did one of those we were in a good position and that just alleviates the pressure and takes our opportunity away.

“Hull KR defended well – and it is great to play a game like that because in the really big games you are going to need to be patient with your attack and slowly break it down.

“But we were not disciplined enough with or without the ball tonight and that put us under pressure. We were ill-disciplined but that is an easy one to fix up.”

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Although he had not studied the Naiqama incident, he defended the Fiji test skipper.

“It is very hard when a bloke is falling – there is no intent there and I am not worried about it at all,” he said.

Woolf explained that Louie McCarthy Scarsbrook sat it out due to a niggle he has been playing with, but will return next week.

“We missed Louie – he brings us a bit of the bench with his speed and enthusiasm. He has been playing with a niggle that most blokes wouldn’t play with.

“But with being healthy in the forwards it was a good opportunity to get some minutes in Dom Peyroux’s legs.

“He will be back playing next week, but we thought leaving him out today was the smart decision,” Woolf said.