Leeds Rhinos Women 66 Barrow Raiders Ladies 4

By Sam Brocksom

Four tries from Ebony Stead and a hat-trick from Sophie Nuttall helped Leeds Rhinos women to a strong 66-4 win over Barrow Raiders Ladies.

After a record-breaking victory over Warrington Wolves last week, Lois Forsell made two changes. Jess Sharp made her Rhinos debut from the bench, whilst Elle Frain and youngster Frankie Blakey returned to the 17 in place of Bethan Dainton, Grace Short and Keara Bennett.

It was the worst start possible for the Rhinos, as they failed to take in the kick-off. From the error, Barrow got first use of the ball and made it count. After trying route one and going down the middle, they shifted the ball right to Vanessa Temple, who was too strong and fought her way to the try line.

The Rhinos managed to counter almost instantly, as Lucy Murray found a short ball to Ebony Stead, who scored under the posts. That was followed instantly by Sophie Nuttall’s first try of the afternoon. The centre managed to take in the kick-off, break the line and race 50m to score. Mel Howard was successful with both conversions, and after 10 minutes Leeds led 12-4.

Stead added her second minutes later, as she spotted a gap 10m out and used great agility to dance her way to the line. Nuttall then added her second, as the ball was shifted left, and the centre finished a great team move to rack up 100 points in her Leeds Rhinos career. Howard added both conversions to increase the lead to 20.

With five minutes to go before the break, Leeds added two more tries to assert their dominance further. Evie Cousins rounded multiple defenders before breaking down the right edge to score. Stead then added her hat-trick try after showing great support play, being on the shoulder of Ruby Walker who found an offload to set the young fullback away. Howard was again successful from the boot, giving Leeds a half-time lead of 36-4.

As the second half got underway, this time it was Barrow that couldn’t take in the kick-off. Leeds managed to capitalise, who received the ball out the back from Walker, before dummying and stepping her way over the line.

Tries for Frankie Blakey and Ella Donnelly came next. First, youngster Blakey scampered over from dummy half to touch down under the posts before Donnelly scored a brilliant try, racing 30 metres and breaking tackles before also scoring between the sticks. Howard found the target for Donnelly’s try, taking her to 100 Rhinos points after just nine matches with the club.

Sophie Nuttall added her hat-trick try with half an hour left on the clock. Howard fired a brilliant cut-out ball to the left edge where the centre was in space and able to dive over to make the scores 56-4.

Connie Boyd and Liv Whitehead rounded off the scoring for the afternoon. It was a first career try at senior level for Boyd, who is one of many youngsters impressing in 2025. She ran a great line to power over the defence from close range. To finish off, Tally Bryer placed a delicate kick to the corner for Whitehead to chase and score. Bryer, who took over kicking duties from Howard, converted one of the two attempts at goal, giving Leeds a full-time score of 66-4.

Leeds: Stead, Whitehead, Nuttall, Cousins, Bryer, Howard, Walker, Donnelly, Bruce, Northrop, Brown, Murray, Glynn. Subs: Sharp, Boyd, Blakey, Frain.

Tries: Stead x4, Nuttall x3, Cousins, Whitehead, Blakey, Boyd, Donnelly

Goals: Howard 7/9, Bryer 2/3