THE tackle shields have been out this week as Saints look to stop the defensive rot which has seen them leak 60 points in their last two hours of rugby.

Saturday’s defeat at Huddersfield was littered with a succession of glaring defensive lapses – with Test players like Michael Shenton, Francis Meli and Sia Soliola among the chief culprits when it came to one-on-one misses.

This followed on from a sloppy second half showing against Sheffield in the Challenge Cup the previous week.

Although Saints coach Royce Simmons explained that the significant and continual changes due to injury had been a major contribution to their recent defensive frailties, he was nevertheless looking for a big response from his players this week.

Saints tackle Championship high fliers Featherstone Rovers in Sunday’s Challenge Cup fifth round tie – and the team’s attitude to defence will come under close scrutiny.

Simmons said: “I was disappointed with our defence last week.

“We have talked about it, watched a lot of video on it and have worked hard on it.

“I would be very disappointed if we don’t see a positive response in that area this week.

“There was a bit of embarrassment in what a few individuals did and what we did as a team so we are looking for a positive response.”

However Simmons, who vowed to stiffen up the squad’s defensive structure at the start of the year, said in mitigation: “Combinations in attack are important, but they even more so in defence.

“When you have disruptions in your side your defence probably suffers more. We have to work on our new combinations in defence.

“You tend to get a lot of one on one misses when you are going backwards.

“But make no mistake that is no excuse for those people who missed and we are doing a lot of one on one practising this week just to sharpen up a few areas.

“These are the sort of things that went out of the window during the Easter programme.

“Defence has dropped away since we won five in a row and then the Wigan game when it was again really tight.”

Following a solid debut from Scott Hale, Saints expect to name more young debutants for Sunday’s clash.