St Helens coach Kieron Cunningham has blamed a poor defensive performance for his side's heavy defeat to Leeds Rhinos in the Super League.
The champions suffered a 41-16 thrashing at Langtree Park on Friday as the Rhinos opened up a six-point lead at the top of the table.
Despite praising his players for improving in the second half, Cunningham believes that a disappointing display at the back during the first period cost them in the end.
"We became victims of our own errors in defence," he told BBC Sport. "You can't give as good a side as Leeds so many chances around the ruck. They've got a great nine and a lot of good support players. Resilience and scramble is always very good from Saints but our ruck defence let us down massively.
"The frustrating thing is that when we came out in the second half after speaking about it at half time we turned into a different side. If we had done that in the first half, I am sure it would have been a completely different game."
The Saints have the chance to get back to winning ways on April 24 when they host Widnes Vikings in the league.
Jack Prescott
