London Broncos U18s 4 Leeds Rhinos U18s 64

Despite only being able to field 15 players, Leeds Rhinos Under-18s overcame London Broncos 64-4 in a convincing win at Richmond.

Due to injuries in the Rhinos camp, head coach Tony Smith named a reduced squad for the match but a young Rhinos outfit showed resilience to get back to winning ways. Battling through a close opening ten minutes, the visitors got their reward when quick hands from Fergus McCormack and Harry Taylor opened space up on the wing for Neil Tchamambe to dive over untouched. Following another spell of pressure from the Broncos, Leo Aliyu also added his name to the score sheet; the prop bulldozing his way through the London line to crash over the try line.

With breathing space on the scoreboard, the Rhinos came into their own with some well-designed tries. Harrison Gilmore benefited from a great link up between Bobby Hartley and McCormack as the full-back was set free, before passing inside for Gilmore to add to the Rhinos score. Dylan Proud added an acrobatic finish in the corner as Leeds continued to punish London's mistakes, plus Jack Johnson powered his way over from a set play from a scrum close to the Broncos try line.

The pick of the first half tries went to Jack Purtill though as some off-the-cuff play led the Rhinos scoring a brilliant try. Aliyu and substitute Shane Tuohey did well to keep the ball alive before Corbett set McCormack away through the heart of the London defence. With only the full back to beat, McCormack was unselfish again as he passed to the on-rushing Purtill, who crowned his first Academy appearance with a four-pointer.

As the half came to a close, the young Rhinos had one last hammer-blow as Tchamambe got his second. Tuohey was proving an electric figure out of dummy half and his pass for Tayler Stephenson saw the half back race free only to be dragged down short of the line. The visitors didn't panic though and a slick shift to the edge allowed Tchamambe to get his second to give the Rhinos a 34-0 lead at the break.

The away side didn't let up in the second half either as they recorded six more tries.

After withstanding pressure from the Broncos on their own try line, Leeds were able to stretch their lead to 38 points as another set play from a scrum saw McCormack streak away to score a well-deserved try. Proud and Harry Taylor were both denied tries shortly after but the Broncos were able to respond; Morgan Jackson opening up space for Aidan Frensham to score in the corner.

A scrappy period saw both sides drop big chances, but the reintroduction of Aliyu saw the prop get Leeds back to their scoring habits with a great break. Declan Ementon followed swiftly, as a great play from Mason Corbett at dummy half saw the hooker put his former East Leeds team mate over on a crash ball. The back rower added a second try to his name too, finishing off another move that saw Corbett involved again.

The floodgates had truly opened as a break saw McCormack get his second of the half underneath the posts, before a length-of-the-field break from Tchamambe set up Purtill for his second of the game to round off a convincing 64-0 win for the Rhinos.