Leeds Rhinos travelled to Cumbria for their final pre-season game with a number of players looking to press their claims for a spot in Brian McClennan's team for the opening game of the season at Wrexham.

The Rhinos included Kyle Amor, the former Whitehaven forward, in their starting line up whilst local lad Jared Stewart was on the bench along with fellow Cumbrian Brad Singleton.

The home side were able to get off to the best possible start after putting the Rhinos under pressure in the early sets. Whitehaven earned a repeat set after forcing Tom Bush to knock the ball dead in goal but the young Leeds team had a hand in their own downfall with two errors early on and eventually the pressure told and Carl Rudd was able to force his way over from close range after breaking out from dummy half. Rudd converted his own try to make it 6-0 after 7 minutes.

Leeds were forced to defend for the majority of the opening quarter however they had opportunities on attack also when a clever kick by Jack Carvell forced Haven to drop out but the Rhinos could not capitalise on the chance. 

They were made to pay after 20 minutes when Rudd released Robb Jackson 15 metres out and he went through to score between the posts. Rudd added the conversion to make it 12-0.

The Rhinos were failing to complete their sets of six and that meant they could not gain any momentum in the game. As the half came towards an end, Leeds played Paul McShane and Liam Hood and the two hookers combined to open up the home defence for the first time. Hood fed McShane, and the latter stepped off his left to give himself just enough space to go through a gap and stretch out to score. He added an excellent conversion to make it 12-6 after 35 minutes.

Whatever Willie Poching said to his side at half time, it appeared to have the desired effect straight from the kick off. Kyle Amor earned a penalty with a strong drive and then clever offloading kept the  pressure up. Eventually on the last tackle, McShane put in a chip kick and Michael Coady timed his run to perfection to dive, catch the ball and touch it down in the same movement. McShane converted the try to level the score after 42 minutes.

Whitehaven hit back though six minutes later with a well worked try. Robb Jackson made a break on half way and then drew the last defender before sending winger Craig Calvert away down the touchline to score. Rudd added the conversion to make it 18-12.

The second half was being played in a great attacking spirit and it was not long before Leeds levelled the game with an excellent try of their own. Coady got the Rhinos going with a good offload 15 metres from his own line. The ball was moved up field with Ian Kirke and Kallum Watkins combing well before Danny Bravo fed Tom Bush. He was tackled just short but a quick play the ball saw Luke Burgess crash onto a short pass and go over. McShane converted to level the score after 55 minutes.

Two minutes later, Whitehaven were again in front. Burgess lost possession near his line and two tackles later Robb Jackson was on hand to go over from close range. Rudd missed the first kick of the match to leave the score 22-18.

Leeds were under pressure soon after and looked like they may go further behind with the home side attacking the line. However, the ball was spilled and Leeds reacted quickest with Calum Casey picking up and feeding Coady. The centre broke up field and looked certain to pass to flying winger Jamel Chisholm but instead backed himself, stepped the full back and went 80 metres for a great solo effort. McShane added the conversion to give his side the lead for the first time.

They extended that lead with 11 minutes to go after forcing Haven to drop out. Two tackles later, the home defence were unable to hold back the giant frame of Ian Kirke as he marked his return from injury with a try. McShane converted to give his side an eight point lead.

The Rhinos held out a number of further attacks from the home side to secure the win and made sure that a successful pre-season training camp ended in victory. Leeds will go into the new season unbeaten with a number of young players showing they have a bright future at the club.