Leeds Rhinos Women 72 Bradford Bulls Women 0

By Sam Brocksom

A second-half hat-trick from Beth Lockwood and doubles from Keara Bennett, Amy Hardcastle, Eloise Hayward, and Bethan Dainton gave Leeds Rhinos Women their first win of their 2023 Challenge Cup campaign as they ran out  72-0 winners over local rivals Bradford Bulls.

Two tries from Keara Bennett and Amy Hardcastle got the Rhinos of the front foot in the first 10 minutes. Eloise Hayward, on goal kicking duties due to the absence of Sam Hulme, converted one from the first two.

Hayward then turned from goal kicker to try scorer as she got her first of the afternoon. The winger looked to be heading for touch, but a jinking run back inside created a gap for her to cross over. Unable to convert her own try, the Rhinos found themselves 14-0 up after 15 minutes.

The Rhinos continued their attacking dominance with tries from Bethan Dainton and Hardcastle again. The former showed incredible strength to topple the opposition full back and go in for her first try of the season. The latter, with a break from the half-way line, went in under the posts with no real threat from the Bulls. Hayward added the extras in front of the posts to make the scores 24-0 after the first quarter.

Hayward  crossed in similar fashion to her first try of the game. Again, the winger found herself with no room but managed to create a gap back inside to give the Rhinos their sixth try in the first 30 minutes.

The Rhinos rounded off the half with two more tires. Tara Moxon got her first of the season thanks to a well-worked overlap on the left edge. Dannielle Anderson then crashed over to the right of the posts. Hayward’s conversions gave the Rhinos a 40-0 lead at half time.

The Rhinos started the second half with two tries in the first ten minutes. The first from Hanna Butcher saw the skipper receive a crash ball on the right edge. The second was the start of a 20-minute hat-trick for Beth Lockwood. Hayward converted her fifth and final goal of the afternoon, before Tasha Gaines took over the kicking duties.

Dainton was on the scoresheet again to get her second of the game. With just under half an hour to go, a magnificent 30 metre break saw her score to the right of the posts, beating five defenders along the way to the try line. Gaines’ first conversion was successful and with 25 minutes to go the Rhinos were well on track to kick their Challenge Cup venture off with a win.

Lockwood’s second and third tries came soon after, her second was arguably her best. A lateral run in front of the posts, shrugging off defenders and crashing over the line. The third was a simple walk-in. After a quick play the ball from Bennett, the unset defence meant a huge gap was created for the forward to stroll over. Gaines converted both tries, keeping her 100% record in-tact. 

The final try of the game came from the woman who opened the scores. Some lovely, off the cuff play from the Rhinos resulted in the ball falling to Bennett, who span round, dummied the pass, and scored. Gaines could not convert her last attempt which meant the score would remain 72-0.