Leeds Rhinos Women 48 Leigh Leopards Women 12

By Sam Brocksom

Leeds Rhinos Women saw off a strong Leigh Leopards side to go third in the table as two tries from Ruby Walker helped them to a 48-12 victory.

Lois Forsell made multiple changes from the victory over Barrow last week, the key news being that Bethan Dainton, Bella Sykes and Keara Bennett all returned.

Much like the victory over Barrow last week, it was a poor start to the game and a try from Toryn Blackwood opened the scoring for the visitors.

After a penalty and six again were conceded, Leigh had first chance in good ball. After going close, they decided to go down the short side to find the winger and score in the corner.

Four minutes in, Leeds finally had their first touch of the ball. However, it wouldn’t be until minute 10 that they managed to put points on the board. Izzy Northrop received a short ball from Mel Howard to cross under the posts. The skipper added the conversion.

Ruby Walker then added her first try of the game, linking up with the returning Bennett to score. The halfback broke the line before offloading to the hooker, who returned the favour and allowed the youngster to cross. Howard couldn’t find the target, leaving the lead at six points.

With half an hour gone, Leeds added their third try. Howard, who assisted the first try, got her name on the scoresheet with a lovely dummy and step close to the Leigh line and jinked her way under the posts. She converted her own try to make the scores 16-4.

Five minutes from the break, Walker added her second try. Receiving the ball from Stead, the number seven spotted a gap and used her pace to dive over in the right-hand corner. Howard couldn’t convert, meaning the half time score was 20-4 in the Rhinos favour.

Fresh off the interval, the Rhinos took no time to add to their advantage. On the opening set, Bethan Dainton made a break from half way and ran 50 metres to score under the posts. The try was converted by Howard.

Five minutes later, Liv Whitehead crossed for her third try in as many matches. Howard’s kick was caught by the winger, who offloaded to Sophie Nuttall. The centre then returned the pass to Whitehead who scored in the corner, increasing the lead to 26 points.

Leigh looked to get back into the game with half an hour left on the clock. Two quick tries from Kate Howard and Mackenzie Taylor looked to start a comeback, but Leeds were too good defensively and stopped any threat of an upset. Leeds still had an 18-point lead with 30 to go.

The Rhinos added four tries in the final 20 minutes to seal the win. First, Ruby Bruce recieved an offload from Grace Short, which allowed her to dive over. That was before Shannon Brown added her first league try of the season.

Quick thinking from Howard and Evie Cousins set up a kick chase early in the set. Leigh couldn’t deal with the bouncing ball, allowing Cousins to pick up and offload to Brown in support and score.

Cousins then managed to find the scoresheet herself, Brown made a break before the ball went through the hands to Greening and on to the young winger to score in the corner. Howard added the touchline conversion to make the scores 44-12.

Finally, Sophie Nuttall added her seventh try in three matches as she dived over on the hooter to finish off a tough but dominant 48-12 win for Lois Forsell’s side.

Leeds: Stead, Whitehead, Nuttall, Greening, Cousins, Howard, Walker, Northrop, Bennett, Donnelly, Brown, Boyd, Dainton. Subs: Bruce, Sykes, Short, Sharp.

Tries: Walker x2, Northrop, Howard, Dainton, Whitehead, Bruce, Brown, Cousins, Nuttall

Goals: Howard 4/10