St Helens made a successful start to the defence of their engage Super League title - but were far from convincing in Sunday night's opener at Huddersfield.

They made a confident start, with three tries in the first 20 minutes, but were gradually pegged back by the gritty Giants in what became an evenly-fought contest and in the end were grateful for the final whistle.

Had Huddersfield been more clinical in their finishing, Saints might have been left to rue the absence of a specialist goalkicker, with Sean Long and Jason Hooper managing just one success between them from four attempts.

The re-run of last August's Challenge Cup final, which Saints won 42-12, looked like going the same way as Daniel Anderson's treble winners shrugged off the absence of a trio of internationals to race into an early 14-2 lead.

Long, playing his first match since his infamous Great Britain walkout from the Tri-Nations Series in November, shrugged off the boos from the home supporters in the 9,212 crowd to spark the visitors into action.

Another Great Britain international, Leon Pryce, also caught the eye with a brilliant attacking display as an emergency full-back in the absence of Paul Wellens.

It looked so easy for the champions as Lee Gilmour, switched from the second row to offset the loss of the suspended Willie Talau, took a short pass from Pryce to crash over for the first try of the new season after only six minutes.

Seven minutes later Pryce took an inside ball from Long to cruise over and winger Ade Gardner added a third on 20 minutes after Long's cut-out pass created an overlap.

Saints' lead would have been more emphatic but for the goalkicking of Long, who was handed back the role following the close-season departure of Jamie Lyon and could manage just one success from his three conversion attempts.

Huddersfield were heavily penalised in the first half but captain Chris Thorman, surprisingly chosen at full-back ahead of the long-serving Paul Reilly, pulled a couple of points back with a penalty and the Giants gave themselves hope with a 25th-minute try.

Hooker Brad Drew switched the direction of play and stand-off Kevin Brown squeezed a pass out of a two-man tackle for Matt Gardner to grab a score against his older brother.

Thorman landed the touchline conversion and added a second penalty just before the break to close the gap to just four points but that was as good as it got for Huddersfield.

Saints extended their lead nine minutes into the second half when Jason Cayless and James Roby combined to get Gilmour over for his second try and Saints' fourth, although Hooper had little more joy with the boot after taking over the goalkicking.

Saints were reduced to 12 men on 56 minutes when Jon Wilkin was sin-binned and placed on report for a high and late tackle which left Thorman concussed and they almost conceded a try straight away.

Giant Huddersfield forward Eorl Crabtree charged to the line but video referee Steve Ganson ruled he grounded the ball short.

Huddersfield could have no complaints over the result but they will have been encouraged by the debuts of Wests Tigers trio Jamahl Lolesi, Shane Elford and John Skandalis while hooker Ryan Hudson made his eagerly-awaited return to competitive action after a two-year drugs ban.