Before kick off Headingley Carnegie was brought to a stand still when the club mourned the loss of a true great in John Holmes, with over 100 of his former team mates joining both teams on the pitch for a minutes silence.

The game started in frantic fashion with both teams showing nerves early on in the most important game of the season. The visitors had the best early chances but knocked on needlessly when they got near the Leeds line.

The Rhinos were in ruthless mood though and scored with their first real chance. Having been awarded a penalty when Brent Webb was held down after breaking up field, Leeds took the tap and worked their way towards the line. That created a three man overlap which McGuire used by dummying to pass before going over himself. Sinfield added the conversion to make it 6-0 after 15 minutes.

However, it was Leeds' turn to make the error next as they allowed the kick off to run into touch. From the scrum, Catalans moved the ball quickly along the line and Adam Mogg released Vincent Duport to score in the corner. Thomas Bosc missed the touchline conversion from the South Stand side to maintain the home side's slim lead.

The Rhinos were denied a try for Lee Smith after 22 minutes when video replays showed that he lost control of the ball trying to ground it after spinning in a tackle.

However, that was the calm before the storm from the Rhinos. The first try of three inside four minutes came when Rob Burrow took the ball to the line and spotted Duport rushing in from his wing to tackle Keith Senior. Burrow floated the ball over the top to Ryan Hall to score in the corner. Sinfield was off target with the conversion but Leeds led 10-4 after 33 minutes.

Two minutes later, Burrow and Sinfield combined to send Jamie Jones-Buchanan away on half way, he had Hall and Senior either side of him but went for the line and was only stopped by a brave tap tackle by Clint Greenshields. However, he had the presence of mind to get back to his feet and offload to Hall to score his second try. Sinfield added the touchline conversion to make it 16-4.

It got even better with three minutes remaining in the half when Donald broke through 30 metres from his own line. With covering defenders converging on him, he looked up and picked out Danny McGuire with an incredible cross field kick without breaking his stride. The kick was matched by McGuire's timing and catch and he raced through for the try. Sinfield converted from in front of the posts to make it 22-4 at half time.

The Rhinos made the perfect start to the second half when Sinfield produced a long, floated pass that bounced once and straight into the arms of Donald to score in the corner. Sinfield was off target but the Rhinos led 26-4 after 42 minutes.

However, if the Champions thought the game was won they were given a rude awakening with two tries inside nine minutes with Duport completing his hat trick. His second try came from a powerful run from close range whilst his second was created by a break from Mogg, after Leeds had knocked on 20 metres from their own line. Bosc converted the second try to make it 26-14 after 55 minutes.

The Rhinos needed the calming influence of their skipper and Sinfield, one of a number of Leeds players forced to wear bandages around their heads due to high shots from Catalans, popped over a drop goal to extend the Rhinos lead to three scores after 62 minutes.

Referee Richard Silverwood appeared to be losing control of the game as the visitors continued to fly in with high tackles. The Rhinos had to control their frustration with the fear of a disciplinary hearing between this game and the Grand Final.

Catalans got the next score when Adam Mogg wrong footed the defence and went over between the posts to give Bosc a simple conversion to make it 27-20 with five minutes to go.

However, it was too little too late for the Dragons and the Champions were going back to Old Trafford.

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