Warrington Wolves 6 Leeds Rhinos 34

Maika Sivo magic put a spell on Warrington Wolves as Leeds Rhinos widened the gap as leaders of the Betfred Super League with a 34-2 win in round 15 at the Halliwell Jones Stadium.

Three tries in 15 minutes from Sivo, Brodie Croft and Harry Newman in the first half laid the platform for an important result in the context of the season so far, as the competition’s leading try scorer Sivo went on to complete yet another three-score performance to take the game beyond the Wolves in the second half. Matty Ashton’s try late on came too late as the Rhinos added their second win of the season against the Wire.

The sole change for the Rhinos before kick-off saw full back Lachie Miller included in the matchday team for the first time since the Man of Steel leader received a three-match ban. Even after stellar performances from Fergus McCormack, who deputised in Miller’s place for games against Huddersfield, St Helens and last week’s win at Toulouse, head coach Brad Arthur didn’t hesitate to put the Australian Miller in straight away for the top of the table clash. The only other rotation saw Danny Levi start at hooker and Jarrod O’Connor come from the bench as the rest of the squad remained unchanged.

Sam Burgess also opted to stick with the majority of the squad that beat St Helens last time out. The Wolves’ sole change saw outside back Arron Lindop return for his first game in over a year as he took the place of the injured Zack Gardner.

A bruising contest between Super League’s top two clubs left little margin for error, but a string of mistakes by the Rhinos invited the Wolves to post the game’s opening points. After a poor last tackle kick by Chris Hankinson sailed out on the full to give Warrington room to attack the Leeds half of the field, the Leeds back rower doubled his error count for tackling Josh Thewlis off the ball, and Ewan Irwin chose to slot the penalty goal to make the score 2-0 to the Wolves after 10 minutes.

Early caution quickly dissolved as scoring chances started to open up for both sides. A 40/20 kick from Leon Hayes luckily came to nothing as Brodie Croft intercepted a loose pass to turn the ball over to the Rhinos. Pushing downfield, Jake Connor’s last tackle kick was fumbled by Albert Hopoate to hand possession back to the away side, but Maika Sivo was unable to finish a move in the corner as former Rhino James Bentley’s cover defence kept Leeds out.

Sivo was called into defensive duties to stop Josh Smith connecting with Irwin’s grubber kick ahead, but Super League’s top try scorer was back to doing what he does best as he got the game’s opening try on 19 minutes. The chance came out of nothing as the reintroduced Miller darted back across the face of the Warrington defensive line before producing a clever kick ahead for Ash Handley to chase. Unable to work out the rotation of the bouncing ball under Hopoate pressure, the Leeds skipper was hesitant to plant the ball down, but the chance wasn’t wasted as Sivo followed up to make sure he took his tally to 23 tries for the season.

A remarkable 15 minutes of action followed as the Rhinos took a strong hold of the scoreboard with two crucial tries. Handley was at the heart of the attack again as a move wide saw the England international beat Smith and Irwin to race away, before finding Croft on his inside for the future Warrington player to score a brilliant effort.

Frustrations from the stands began to trickle down to the Wolves players onto the pitch as Leeds took full advantage to get their third try of the night. Another booming kick from the boot of Connor put Thewlis in two minds, and Harry Newman took full advantage to steal the ball from the Wolves full back’s grasp and force the ball down for his sixth try in four games. Despite concerns about whether the centre was offside, the try was confirmed and converted as a 16-2 scoreline saw the away side settle into the contest.

The home side remained frantic in their search for points late in the half, but after putting the Leeds defence under pressure with back-to-back sets, a poor pass proved costly as Handley intercepted low to send the Rhinos into the break with a 14-point cushion. Coming out for the second half, even though Croft was rocked by a blow from Kelepi Tanginoa, Leeds’ attack clicked once more as Miller’s well-timed pass put Hankinson over to add to Warrington’s woes as the score ticked to 22-2.

Two more points quickly followed as Miller was taken out by Bentley as the full back tried to chase down his own kick ahead, and Connor opted to slot a penalty to take the sting out of the game. The try scoring kicked back in, though, courtesy of Sivo, who took his hat-trick tally to five for the campaign as Warrington’s fear of a blowout score was starting to become a reality.

The winger took a brilliantly timed pass over the top from Connor to run over Thewlis on his way to the try line for his second score, before a shape similar to the one that unlocked Hull KR in Las Vegas saw the Fijian brush away from Hopoate for an easy finish to complete his hat trick.

Sivo threatened a fourth try only for Hopoate to intervene, but a young Wolves outfit kept plugging away to their credit. Matty Ashton’s try with seven minutes to go ensured the home side left with a try on the board, but it was only a consolation as Leeds’ dominant campaign continued with their first away win over the Wolves since 2023.

The Rhinos head back to AMT Headingley next Friday night as the club’s annual MND Awareness fixture pits them up against Hull KR in a game not to be missed. Get your tickets now at tickets.therhinos.co.uk.

Teams

Wolves

2. Josh Thewlis, 4. Albert Hopoate, 26. Josh Smith, 23. Arron Lindop, 5 Matty Ashton, 19. Leon Hayes, 18. Ewan Irwin, 21. Luke Thomas, 9. Danny Walker, 16. Liam Byrne, 8. James Harrison, 20. James Bentley, 13. Ben Currie

Subs: 14. Sam Powell,15. Toff Sipley, 17. Jordy Crowther, 34. Kelepi Tanginoa (18^th Man: 35. Lachlan Webster)

Tries: Ashton (73)

Goals: Irwin 0/1

Penalty Goals: Irwin 1/1

Rhinos

1. Lachie Miller 2. Maika Sivo, 4. Ash Handley (C), 3. Harry Newman, 5. Ryan Hall, 6. Brodie Croft, 7. Jake Connor, 8. Mikolaj Oledzki, 23. Danny Levi, 13. Keenan Palasia, 14. Chris Hankinson, 12. James McDonnell, 11. Kallum Watkins

Subs: 9. Jarrod O’Connor, 15. Cooper Jenkins, 17. Cameron Smith, 20. Presley Cassell (18th Man – 26. Tom Nicholson-Watton)

Tries: Sivo (19, 54, 57), Croft (21), Newman (29), Hankinson (43)

Goals: Connor 3/5

Penalty Goals: Connor 1/1