Leeds thrashed Wigan 34-10 on Friday to give warning they are in the best of form for their Super League defence with their fifth win out of five.

St Helens dominated Salford 38-12 in the night's other fixture, leaving Saints two points behind Leeds having lost one of their matches.

Leeds had failed to really impress despite winning their first four games but on Friday they were back to their clinical best, combining aggressive forward play with slick running and passing by their backs to delight a 17,677 crowd with a 34-10 win.

Fresh from a 44-10 rout of Bradford, Wigan were looking to make it four league wins in a row at Headingley but they were simply swept aside in a blistering opening by the champions, who raced into a 22-0 lead inside half an hour to put the result beyond doubt.

Ryan Hall (2), Robert Burrow, Kylie Leuluai, Scott Donald and Jamie Peacock scored tries for Leeds.

Shaun McRae was powerless to prevent Salford sliding to another dismal defeat on his return to Knowsley Road as St Helens cantered to victory with a seven-try blitz.

Australian McRae enjoyed a highly successful spell as Saints coach between 1996 and 1998 but he is finding life altogether tougher back in the big time with Salford.

The City Reds were 38-0 behind by the time full-back Karl Fitzpatrick and debutant Andrew Thornley crossed the line in the last 10 minutes to give their supporters reason to cheer and make the final score 38-12.

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