Great Britain international Jamie Jones-Buchanan said he was pleased to "blow off the cobwebs" after getting his season off to a belated start against the Giants.
Great Britain international Jamie Jones-Buchanan said he was pleased to "blow off the cobwebs" after getting his season off to a belated start against the Giants. The second rower missed last Saturday's opening day win over Hull KR with a calf strain but he made a try scoring return at the Galpharm Stadium as the Rhinos made it two out of two with a comfortable 30-10 win. Speaking after the game, Jones-Buchanan said, "I was a bit nervous before the game. My last few games for Leeds and Great Britain have obviously been important matches but I really wanted to get this game out of the way. It was good to blow off a few cobwebs and get the season started. I am glad I have got a few bumps and bruises it means that we are back down to business!" Jones-Buchanan scored the Rhinos second try, after Huddersfield had hit back early on, when he supported a great run by Danny McGuire. However, the Rhinos star said he did not remember much of the score. "Chris Thorman caught me on the chin as I was going down so I didn't know too much about it. The lads were picking me up and congratulating me and I was just trying to get my barings! Scoring tries gives you confidence. We have got some great guys here and if you stick on their shoulder you are going to get chances. We were looking to kick on in the second half but unfortunately that did not happen. "We controlled the ruck alot better than last week and control field position and territory. We need to work together and be dominant and I thought we did that really well," added Jones-Buchanan. Both St Helens and Bradford lost their opening games at Hull KR and Wakefield respectively on the same day that Leeds avoided a potential banana skin at Huddersfield. Those two victors also happen to be the Rhinos last and next opponents and Jones-Buchanan says those wins indicate how tough Super League is this year. "Everyone has kicked on this year. Last week people were saying we were a bit rusty, and we probably were a bit after a long flight earlier in the week, but also it was a measure of how hard we had to work against a very good Hull KR side. They have shown that today by beating Saints and we know Wakefield wil be tough next Friday."