WARRINGTON Wolves are certainly in promising attacking form, but that area of their game is about to face its biggest test yet.

Pitting their red-hot attack against a famously stingy St Helens defence in Sunday’s Challenge Cup quarter-final could be seen as a meeting of fire and ice – so which will prevail in what appears to be an intriguing clash of styles?

Can Wire break Saints down?

No Super League team has scored more tries or points than Warrington’s 37 and 214 respectively this season, with Sam Burgess’ side averaging just over five tries and 30 points per game in the league thus far.

Their average of 5.28 tries and 30.57 points per game puts them just behind Wigan Warriors (5.5 tries, 31.33 points) in terms of being the league’s most potent attack, with the defending champions having played a game less.

However, facing them down will be a Saints side whose defensive steel became the hallmark of their run of four Super League titles in a row between 2019 and 2022.

That has continued this year, with their 58 points conceded at an average of 8.28 per game by far the lowest in the competition.

That means both teams’ perceived strengths are pitted directly against each other, as are the areas in which they appear to be the most suspect.

Saints’ attack is yet to fully fire this season – their 138 points scored (19.71 per game average) is lower than any side currently in Super League’s top seven – but they will be faced with a Warrington defence that has had a tendency to leak points at times.

Of the teams currently in the top six, only sixth-placed Huddersfield Giants have conceded more points than Wire’s 98 (14 per game average).

Burgess’ boys fighting against recent history

As is now well-documented, Warrington’s recent record against their neighbours is a wretched one.

They have not beaten Saints since a 6-2 Super League victory at the Totally Wicked Stadium in June 2021, with the past seven meetings all going St Helens’ way.

Perhaps concerningly, too, Wire have found points hard to come by in those games, averaging just 9.42 per game compared to Saints’ 21.42.

The seven meetings have all been relatively low-scoring at an average of 30.9 points per game, while Saints’ winning margin across the seven matches has averaged out at 12 points.