Wigan Warriors U16s 20 Leeds Rhinos U16s 44

A thorough eight-try performance at Robin Park Arena saw Leeds Rhinos Under-16s defeat Wigan Warriors Under-16s 44-20, led by a brace from substitute Bamidele Olasode.

In their first game back since the end of exam season, Simon Brown’s side were slow out of the starting blocks when a knock on by Dylan Baira invited early pressure that the home side converted. Eager to break a Rhinos defence camped on their own try line, full back Bobby Hughes straightened his run from short range to beat Baira and Lewis Kilner’s tackles and stretch out to score the evening’s first points.

Leeds struggled to hold possession in a promising area of the field as Wigan grew in confidence off the back of their try. Relentless kicks from Alex Carlile and Alex Higham kept pinning Wade Smith, Noah Sheriffe and Alfie Quinn back behind their own try line, but the Rhinos got their spark on the 15 minute mark. Clearing their lines off the back of another deep Warriors kick, Henry Brough opted to play the short side and feed Joe Gill into space to set up a counterattack, and the centre was well supported by his half-back to finish a great try.

With the game now opening up, Rhinos hooker Lennon Kelly tried to steal a score out of dummy half with a burrowing drive for the line, but was judged to be held up as Leeds were denied the lead. A penalty against Hughes for taking Olasode out as he tried to compete for a fifth tackle kick set the visitors up again minutes later, and the substitute made sure to find the try line as he hit a flat ball from Brough well to crash over. Brough couldn’t convert as the score was 10-6 in favour of the Rhinos.

Leeds’ attack was starting to flow, highlighted by a great Wade Smith break that was shut down well by Alfie Allender and Olly Hodson to stop the Rhinos winger. A fortunate knock on against Alfie Ainscough from Oli Vincent’s last tackle kick handed the visitors to Robin Park possession again, and Jordan Barker-Day supported a damaging run by Dillon Eshun to score his first try of the season. More ill-discipline caught Wigan out off the back of the restart, and another well-executed chance saw Smith dive over in the corner after Baira’s run fragmented the Warriors’ defence. Brough nailed the sideline conversion to take the score to 22-6.

To their credit, the Warriors stayed in the fight to make the difference only six points at the break. Higham’s inspired drive saw the half back find the line with Leeds defenders hanging off him, before he found the try line again on the half time whistle to make the score 22-16 in favour of the Rhinos.

Brown’s side made sure the Warriors enjoyed no comeback in the second 40 minutes, as a brilliant half saw them bring home the win in emphatic style. Losing Kilner for the remainder of the game after the centre was treated for an injury for a prolonged period, the Rhinos didn’t step out of rhythm as Olasode took on the Wigan defence and forced his way to the ground to get the second half scoring underway.

Prop Kazimierz Ciuraj-Davison was unlucky not to find himself one-on-one with Hughes, but Brough’s pass to the forward was judged to be forward. With Wigan’s frustrations boiling over on a hot night, their cause wasn’t helped when Allender’s try was cancelled out for an obstruction in the process as another score was chalked off.

Even with Leeds’ lead at 28-16, the game needed a moment of magic to break it open again and Brough provided just that for his second try of the game. Closing in on finishing the set on the halfway mark, the half back stepped away from a keen Warriors defender to race through the vacant hole in the home side’s defensive line, before stepping around Hughes to finish a sensational effort.

The home side’s frustrations continued as Higham was denied a hat trick try as Kingston Leuluai’s pass was ruled forward. At the other end of the field, Eshun’s try confirmed a Rhinos win as good drives by Quinn, Vincent and Sheriffe set the Rhinos up within range before the second rower pounced.

There was time for one last standout try as Leeds crowned the win. Quinn and Gill combined on a breakaway that took the Rhinos away from their own try line and within range, and a quick shift across the line put Smith over in the corner to take Leeds to 44 points. Hodson managed to get a consolation try for the Warriors but it was to no reward as the full time whistle confirmed a great win for the Rhinos Under-16s.

Teams

Warriors

1. Bobby Hughes, 2. Alfie Allender, 3. Kian Norman, 4. Finlay Davies, 5. Alfie Ainscough, 6. Alex Higham, 7. Alex Carlile, 8. Lucas Read, 9. Tommy O’Connor, 10. Jude Rowe, 11. Olly Hodson, 12. Liam Cartwright, 13. Kingston Leuluai

Subs: 14. Paddy Burrows, 15. Reece Hill, 16. Leo Robinson, 17. Billy Wingfield, 18. Aiden Wright, 19. Rudi Spencer-Burrows, 20. Mason Lewis

Tries: Hughes, Higham x2, Hodson

Goals: Carlile 2/3, O’Connor 0/1

Rhinos

1. Noah Sheriffe, 2. Alfie Quinn, 3. Joe Gill, 4. Lewis Kilner, 5. Wade Smith, 6. Henry Brough, 7. Oliver Vincent, 8. Kazimierz Ciuraj-Davison, 9. Lennon Kelly, 10. Archie Butler, 11. Dillon Eshun, 12. Dylan Baira, 13. Ben Smith

Subs: 14. Jordan Barker-Day, 15. Evan Armstrong, 16. Tristan King, 17. Charlie Medley, 18. Laike Smith, 19. Bamidele Olasode, 20. Oscar Brown

Tries: Brough x2, Olasode x2, Barker-Day, Smith x2, Eshun

Goals: Brough 3/4, Sheriffe 3/4