Leeds Rhinos 46 Toulouse Olympique 0

Leeds Rhinos secured back-to-back home wins in the Betfred Super League as a 42-0 performance against Toulouse Olympique in round 21 strengthened the club’s grip on the top of the league table.

Eight tries were scored by seven different players as a Rhinos side that was missing key stars Maika Sivo, Ash Handley, Ryan Hall, Danny Levi and more stood up to the challenge of Toulouse. Jake Connor’s two tries and seven goals led the way in another standout performance for the reigning Man of Steel, plus Brodie Croft, James McDonnell, Harry Newman, Riley Lumb, Mikolaj Oledzki and Tom Holroyd also got in on the action as Leeds stayed two points clear as leaders of the league.

It was a day for the debutants as both Leeds and Toulouse introduced homegrown young stars to the Super League stage. Brad Arthur handed a first-team debut to 18-year-old Zak Lloyd as the former Siddal junior earned his opportunity after impressing in the Academy and Reserves grades since joining the club at 14. Having trained with the first team squad since breaking into the Under-18s, he took the place of Tom Nicholson-Watton on the bench as one of four changes for Leeds. The outside backs also had a youthful injection from Arthur as Maika Sivo’s injury and Alfie Edgell’s absence saw Reserves top try scorer Riley Lumb and Ned McCormack step up to partner on the right edge – McCormack playing his first league game of the season. Harry Newman was rotated onto the wing alongside Jack Bird, and Chris Hankinson marked his return from a HIA as he took the place of Ben Littlewood in the second row.

In addition to a debut, Leeds also celebrated milestone games for Jarrod O’Connor, who ran out for his 150^th career game, and Kallum Watkins for his 350^th Super League outing.

Toulouse head coach Sylvain Houles also handed a debut to his academy half-back Victor Collin as Olympique came into the game without major stars Olly Ashall-Bott, Brendan Hands and Thomas Lacans through injury.

A 50-minute first half - due to captains' challenges and video referee calls - broke up a stale affair as Leeds made the most of their chances to take the lead with three tries.

Unlike last week’s slow start against Bradford, the home side looked to kick the game into life when Kallum Watkins managed to snag a poor pass from Toulouse, and the skipper released Ned McCormack away to run the length of the field to touch down. Only on review by the video referee was the try chalked off as Chris Hankinson was judged to have touched the ball before Watkins swooped it up

Hankinson was also at fault when the returning rower ended a promising attack with a knock-on under pressure from Lambert Belmas and Mathieu Jussaume, but it was a warning of what was to come moments later to the French outfit. A slick move down the left edge released Riley Lumb into the backfield, but after being caught up by Paul Ulberg, Leeds’ spine jumped into life to put Jake Connor through a gap for the opening try on 12 minutes.

Olympique’s best chances in the match all came in the first half, but to no reward on the scoreboard as they couldn’t break through a resilient Rhinos defensive line. Even after a good play caught Lachie Miller in goal to gift Houles’ side a second set on their opponents’ try line, Jussaume came up with the critical error to knock on and hand possession back to Leeds.

Sensing a growing frustration amongst the French side, the Rhinos once again found the try line through a rampaging run from Mikolaj Oledzki. Space on the edges was cleverly exploited by Miller as Lumb raced free again, and as Connor handed the Leeds prop the ball five metres out, Jussaume and Marion’s attempted tackles didn’t stop Oledzki getting his third score of the year.

Lumb was unlucky not to keep the scoreboard ticking over as the winger didn’t back himself on the outside against Ulberg and Ethan Quai-Ward to leave potential points out on the pitch. It also came back to bite the Rhinos when Henry O’Kane was slotted through a hole to set Luke Polselli up for a score, but Miller’s defence dragged the Toulouse man down short of the try line.

With time counting towards the 40-minute mark, Tom Holroyd continued a stellar run of try-scoring form to give the home side a strong foothold at the break. Another lazy pass was intercepted by Connor, who in turn released the much faster Lumb to change Leeds from defence into attack. Working the Olympique defence across their own line, substitute Cameron Smith produced a flat ball for Presley Cassell, whose offload was on time to find Holroyd close to the try line. Connor added the conversion to make the score 18-0.

A more clinical second half allowed the Rhinos to settle into their usual rhythm as Toulouse had no response – unlike the reverse fixture in round 14. Four minutes into the new half, the Rhinos picked up where they left off as James McDonnell took a Brodie Croft pass to drive over the try line for his fifth score in three games.

Now in full control of the fixture, a small scare kept Leeds alert when Jussaume juggled a Cesar Rouge pass to break away, but Ned McCormack stopped both the Olympique second rower as well as Hugo Garrigues with important tackles before the centre exited the field through injury.

Holroyd was convinced he scored a second of the game when another bullocking effort, only to be denied by the video referee for not grounding the ball in the in-goal area. Yet again, the Rhinos weren’t left to rue the chance as they converted back-to-back tries. After good drives by Lumb, Jarrod O’Connor and Smith, a quick shift to Harry Newman’s edge punished tired defence as the make-shift winger dived in. On the next attacking set, another try saw Connor connect with Miller’s cross field kick as the Man of the Match snatched the ball out of Polselli’s grasp to make the score 34-0 on the hour mark.

A blow-out scoreline allowed head coach Arthur to give his debutant Lloyd the final 20 minutes as the back rower ran out for the first time as a Rhinos first team player. A bright spark, he was immediately thrown into the action as he came up with a huge tackle on Rouge to diffuse a Toulouse chance just moments after coming on to aide Leeds closer to a convincing result.

Croft wasn’t going to let the opportunity pass for the half back to extend his try record for the season as he sliced open the Olympique line expertly to take Leeds to 40 points with ten minutes to go. Lumb also got in on the try-scoring act as the winger walked into the corner to finish a resounding 46-0 final score for Leeds.

Teams

Rhinos

1. Lachie Miller, 3. Harry Newman, 33. Jack Bird, 24. Ned McCormack, 22. Riley Lumb, 6. Brodie Croft, 7. Jake Connor, 8. Mikolaj Oledzki, 9. Jarrod O’Connor, 15. Cooper Jenkins, 14. Chris Hankinson, 12. James McDonnell, 11. Kallum Watkins (C)

Subs: 10. Tom Holroyd, 17. Cameron Smith, 20. Presley Cassell, 30. Zak Lloyd (18^th Man – 28. Fergus McCormack)

Tries: Connor (14, 62), Oledzki (24), Holroyd (39), McDonnell (44), Newman (58), Croft (70), Lumb (76)

Goals: Connor 7/8

Olympique

25. Luke Polselli, 5. Benjamin Laguerre, 19. Romeo Tropis, 39. Ethan Quai-Ward, 2. Paul Ulberg, 31. Victor Collin, 28. Cesar Rouge, 17. Rob Butler, 13. Anthony Marion, 8. Lambert Belmas, 22. Henry O’Kane, 12. Mathieu Jussaume, 15. Joe Cator

Subs: 27. Hugo Garrigues, 30. Tiaki Chan, 40. John Toleafoa, 20. Ajahni Wallace (18^th Man – 18. Baptiste Rodriguez)