Leeds Rhinos were aiming to exact revenge on St Helens in the Challenge Cup after they narrowly lost to them in the league earlier this season. The ground was bustling with excitement and it didn't take long for the first try to come along, courtesy of a knock-on by St Helens. Zak Hardaker showed great composure to score his first of two tries, albeit one-handed. Kevin Sinfield added the conversion.
However ten minutes later, Saints hit back through Adam Swift, Luke Walsh added the conversion to make the score level. The rest of the first half was evenly contested and three minutes before the break, the tide turned in Leeds' favour when Ryan Hall excellently offloaded to Zak Hardaker to add his second try of the game. Sir Kev added the conversion to make it 12-6 at the break.
The second half started with a try within the first ten minutes for Leeds, but not before Sir Kev converted a penalty. Joel Moon put his name on the score-sheet with a superb try and Sir Kev added the conversion. At this point it was 20-6 to Leeds.
Saint Helens were still pushing Leeds however and they got their second try courtesy of Josh Jones, this was again converted by Luke Walsh. They then went on the hunt for more tries but they were to be kapowed by two further tries. These came from Danny McGuire and Jamie Peacock. Sir Kev added both conversions and made sure Leeds booked their place in the quarter-final. The final score was 32-12.
Man of the Match went to Ryan Hall, who was a constant menace throughout the game.
Injury doubt - Rob Burrow has suffered a broken collar bone. Get well soon Rob.
Until next time.....
Following Friday's emphatic win against Bradford Bulls and with only a couple of days rest between both games, Rhinos welcomed Salford Red Devils to Headingley Carnegie. The game started well in Leeds' favour and it wasn't long before Leeds took the lead and again the captain Kevin Sinfield took centre stage after fine work from Mitch Achurch allowed him the space and time to cross the line. He then converted his own try.
However Salford didn't come to be turned over and they took their fair share of possession which meant Leeds had to defend superbly. But they couldn't stop Logan Tomkins going over. Jake Mullaney missed the conversion attempt and it meant Leeds retained their narrow lead. They kept this right through to half-time.
Leeds and Salford started the second half in a similar vein to the first but Leeds proved to be the more clinical. This was to be shown when Ben Jones-Bishop ran 80m down the field but as he was being tackled he offloaded to Zak Hardaker who then finished with the end product. Sir Kev once again converted.
Not long afterwards, Rob Burrow increased the score-line thanks to good work from Joel Moon, thus allowing Rob to cross the line. Sir Kev made sure of the conversion attempt. Leeds didn't stop there with the try-scoring and to make sure of the result, Ben Jones-Bishop,
Ryan Hall and Tom Briscoe all scored tries to give Leeds a 32-4 win. Kev converted Bishop's try but couldn't quite kick Hall's and Briscoe's. Another resounding win for the Rhinos as we march on in the season.
Man of the Match - Sir Kev he's managed to hit the try-scoring quite a bit this season and despite not getting the last two conversion attempts, his kicking is still very clinical.
Injury doubts - Danny McGuire did appear to have a cut to his head after defending an Salford onslaught but he came on in the last ten mins of the game so he should be okay for Saturday.
Until next time......
Rhinos were aiming to continue their very impressive form with a win against Bradford Bulls in the Super League. It was also Rob Burrow's 400th appearance for the club. They started very well through captain Kevin Sinfield, he picked up a bounce from a kick by Danny McGuire and took the ball over the line, he then converted his try.
Shortly afterwards, fantastic handling by Ryan Hall and a clever kick by Sir Kev enabled Joel Moon to go over in the corner. However Sir Kev hit the post with his conversion attempt.
This was to set Leeds well on their way with a flurry of tries, Danny McGuire being the latest to add to the growing tally after the Bulls allowed him too much space to get in and score. Sir Kev hit the target this time with the conversion attempt. At this point it was 0-16 to the Rhinos.
Ryan Hall then grabbed 1 of 3 tries after great work by Kallum Watkins and Rob Burrow.
Sir Kev pulled his attempt wide.
It was at this point that Bradford Bulls came into the game and they scored a try after Zak Hardaker made a mistake and Lee Gaskell ran 80m to score. Luke Gale converted and the score was 6-20. A few minutes later, just after he had come on for Mitch Achurch, Stevie Ward suffered a leg injury and had to come back off. Chris Clarkson replaced him. The remainder of the first half produced no further tries from either side.
The second half started just as brilliantly as the first with Rhinos going on the attack again and they were to get their just reward when Ryan Hall scored his second try of the night after claiming a ball from a Leeds scrum and going over the line. Again Sir Kev hit the post and the score at this point was 6-24. Ryan Hall then got his hat-trick and Sir Kev made no mistake with the conversion.
This was to be the last real action of the game for Sir Kev as we have two huge games coming up he came off to be rested. Liam Sutcliffe came on in high spirits after scoring twice in two games previously. He added his third in three games not long after coming on. Zak Hardaker took over the kicking reins and and it was 6-36 to Rhinos.
Kallum Watkins then produced a fine try of his own when he brushed off in-coming Bulls defenders and charged over the try-line. Hardaker hit the post with his conversion attempt.
Not to be outdone by his team-mates on his 400th appearance, Rob Burrow scored a try to make his night more special and Hardaker added the conversion to make the score 6-46 to the Rhinos.
What a wonderful performance from all and I will be giving the Man of the Match award to Ryan Hall, he just always performs every single game and he deserved his hat-trick of tries.
Injury doubt - Stevie Ward, I sincerely hope his leg injury is not as serious as it looks. Get well soon Stevie.
Until next time.....
After last week's resounding win in the Tetley's Challenge Cup, Rhinos were high on confidence and form going into this game in the Super League against Wakefield Wildcats. It was also Jamie Peacock's 500th game for the club.
As it did last week, the game started cautiously but it wasn't going to stay that way for long when Liam Sutcliffe scored his second try in two games after fantastic work from Ryan Hall who offloaded to Liam for the try. Kevin Sinfield converted the try.
Ryan then scored shortly afterwords after brilliantly collecting a mid-field ball and taking it over the line. Again Sir Kev converted the try.
Leeds were on a roll at this stage and the next person to score a try came to be Tom Briscoe who scored after wonderful work from Sir Kev and Kallum Watkins. Sir Kev kept up his good conversion kicks with 3 out of 3.
However Leeds took a blow when Ben Jones-Bishop took a whack to the head and had to be stretchered off. But this wasn't to stop Leeds adding another try before the end of the half when Carl Ablett kept up his try-scoring form with another one after dummying past two tacklers to go over. Sir Kev made it 4 out of 4 kicks.
The second half came and kept their fantastic form right up when Jamie Peacock scored a fantastic try on his 500th appearance and sent Headingley Carnegie into raptures. Sir Kev kicked the conversion once more.
Chris Clarkson who had earlier been denied a try, did get one after slicing through and finding a gap to score. Sir Kev made good work of his conversion attempt once again.
Rob Burrow, a constant threat throughout the game scored a beautiful try and ended the game with a wonderful double over Wakefield. Sir Kev made it 7 out of 7. Brilliant kicking game for him.
Man of the Match is again Rob Burrow, a threat with his pace and fantastic passing. He's been a fantastic player so far this season.
Injury doubt - Ben Jones-Bishop, he was taken to hospital at half-time as a pre-caution but is okay. Hopefully he will be on the team-sheet for Thursday.
Until next time.......
Leeds Rhinos were hoping to get back to winning ways against Wakefield Wildcats in the Tetley's Challenge Cup. The nerves soon were dispelled when Rob Burrow scored the first try of the game.
This was to set the Rhinos on their way and it wasn't long after that Carl Ablett scored one of two tries by crossing the line after good supporting work by Kevin Sinfield. Tries from Danny McGuire and Ryan Hall made the score 26-0. Sir Kev missed two of the conversion attempts.
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Wakefield got a try back through Pita Godinet, Jarrod Sammut with their conversion. This was never going to deter the Rhinos however as in the last minute of the half as Ryan Hall scored his second try after brilliant work from Carl Ablett. Sir Kev did get his conversion attempt on target this time round.
Half-time came and went and the second half started as strongly as the first half when Liam Sutcliffe who returned to the Rhinos after a spell on loan at London Broncos scored his try after 50 minutes but not before Mitch Achurch put his name on the score-sheet when Hardaker and Sinfield combined to allow Achurch through. Sir Kev converted both tries to give the Rhinos a commanding 44-6 lead.
Leeds then entered the final period of the game in great fashion when Tom Briscoe added to the score-line with a superb try and Rob Burrow added another to his tally. Sir Kev booted his kick over to make the score-line more handsome and Joel Moon who has been on form this season scored the final try of the game and Sir Kev added the conversion to make it 60-6 to the Rhinos.
A fantastic game for the Rhinos and they march onto the next round of the Challenge Cup where they face St Helens. It should be a wonderful clash.
Man of the Match has to be Rob Burrow, he performed very very well in the game and to get two tries is a bonus.
No injury doubts from this game.
Until next time......
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