Featherstone Rovers Ladies 6 Leeds Rhinos Women 68

By sam Brocksom

It was a day to remember for Ruby Walker and Ebony Stead, who both scored twice on debut to help Leeds Rhinos Women gain a brilliant 68-6 over Featherstone Rovers Women.

The game also included a hat-trick from Liv Whitehead, as well as a brace from a returning Bethan Dainton and tries from Keara Bennett, Evie Cousins, Grace Short and Bella Sykes.

Lois Forsell made five changes to the side that played Barrow two weeks ago. Grace Field, Kaiya Glynn and Dainton all returned to the side after injury layoffs, whilst Walker and Stead made their first appearances after impressing in the recent Nines tournament.

The Rhinos took no time at all to get the only points on the board. Fresh off her four-try display over Barrow, Liv Whitehead opened the scoring after just three minutes. The ball was shifted right before the winger cut back inside to give Keara Bennett an easier conversion, which she kicked.

That wasn’t the only try Leeds scored early on, as they raced to a 22-0 lead after just 16 minutes played. Debutant Ebony Stead made her mark instantly, scoring two of the next three tries. First, she found herself on the end of a shift play left, before her second try, where cut back inside and exploited a gap in the Featherstone defence. In between her brace, Bethan Dainton scored a brilliant 60 metre effort in front of the posts to the delight of the travelling Leeds fans. Bennett kicked two of the three, giving Leeds that 22-point buffer.

The home side crossed for their first points of the game just before the first quarter was up. Charley Blackburn, the Featherstone hooker, crossed from dummy half, barging her way over from close range. The try was converted so the gap reduced to 16.

It didn’t take long before Leeds were back on the scoresheet, this time through Evie Cousins. The full back scored her fifth try in consecutive matches as she found a gap from a scrum play and raced 50 metres to score under the posts. Bennett added the extras with ease.

Whitehead’s second try came next. The ball was shifted out to her, and she was left one-on-one with her opposite number whom she beat to cross the line. That was before Grace Short added her name to the list of scorers, receiving a pass from Caitlin Casey to go over untouched. Bennett added the latter of the two tries, giving Leeds a half-time lead of 38-6.

Ruby Walker was introduced at the start of the second half. The Rhinos took a little longer to get going than in the first half but it was the same player to kick off the second-half scoring. Whitehead added her hat-trick try, diving low to get under the defence and get the ball down before Bella Sykes powered her way over the line, taking multiple defenders across the line with her. Walker added the latter try, increasing the lead to 42.

Minutes after, Walker scored her first of two tries, receiving the ball and going back on the inside to go over next to the posts. She converted her own try. She added her second straight after, being the first to pounce on a kick into the in-goal area. This time she couldn’t add the extras so the scores remained 58-6.

Dainton added a brace for the penultimate try of the game. Casey’s high kick was not dealt with by the Rovers full back, and the ball bounced straight into the Welsh captain’s arms for an easy score. Walker’s conversion attempt drifted to the left.

Bennett returned to the field for the final 10 minutes after a well-earned rest, she scampered over from dummy half to score the final try of the match. Good runs from Cousins and Walker got Leeds to five metres out before the hooker profited on the unset Rovers defence. Walker added the conversion on the final play of the game to give Leeds a convincing 68-6 victory.

Leeds: Cousins, Whitehead, Greening, Robinson, Stead, Butcher, Casey, Northrop, Bennett, Sykes, Murray, Short, Dainton. Subs: Field, Glynn, Donnelly, Walker

Tries: Whitehead x3, Dainton x2, Stead x2, Walker x2, Bennett, Cousins, Short, Sykes.

Goals: Bennett 5/8, Walker 3/5