By Sam Brocksom

Seven second-half tries helped Leeds Rhinos to a comfortable 52-12 victory over Featherstone Rovers Women.

Try doubles for Amy Hardcastle and Liv Whitehead helped the Rhinos to the win, who are now waiting to see who and where they will play in the playoffs for the Betfred Women’s Super League.

Interim head coach Leon Crick made three changes to the side that lost to York Valkyrie last week. Ruby Walker, Shona Hoyle and Jenna Greening all returned to the starting line up in place of Lucy Murray, Bethan Dainton and Grace Field.

The Rhinos were quick off the blocks, scoring after just three minutes. Liv Whitehead crossed the line for her 10^th try in all competitions. Some brilliant off-the-cuff play from Leeds saw the ball shift left for the winger to go over in the corner. Young halfback Ruby Walker added the touchline conversion.

The former York Valkyrie player almost had a second minutes later but the final pass from Sophie Robinson was deemed forward.

Izzy Northrop added the Rhinos second of the match, a strong carry close to the line meant the prop wouldn’t be stopped as she touched down under the posts. Walker again added the extras.

In tough conditions, the Rhinos were held back by some strong defence from the away side. It would be them who added points next, with hooker Olivia Grace scampering over from dummy half. Tally Bryer added the conversion, so the Rhinos led 12-6.

Amy Hardcastle added her first of the afternoon with seven minutes from time. The centre proved too strong for the Featherstone defence, and with Walker’s touchline conversion they led by 12.

The away side crossed once more to end the first half, this time through Francesca Copley. The centre broke the line after a short ball, and managed to beat Ebony Stead to score under the posts. Bryer added the conversion to cut the deficit in half and they headed to the sheds at 18-12.

After a close second half, the Rhinos then ran in seven tries to fully put their mark on the game. Three tries in the opening ten helped them to achieve this, with the first coming from Keara Bennett. The England international was first to react to Walker’s offload and she dived on the ball to score.

Stead and Walker then added their names to the scoresheet. First, fullback Stead was in support of Caitlin Casey and received an offload before racing 30 metres to score. Two minutes later, Walker produced a show-and-go to beat the Rovers defence and cross to the right of the posts. Bennett added the latter of the three tries giving Leeds a 32-12 lead after 50 minutes.

Hardcastle’s second and a first try of the league season for Hanna Butcher came next. The England international centre was back to her best, breaking the line 30 metres from her own line and raced away to score under the posts. That was before the Leeds captain, operating at second row for most of the game, scored from close range. Bennett added both goals to increase the Rhinos’ lead to 32.

Liv Whitehead added her second twenty minutes from time after being on the receiving end of some quick passes out to the left edge. Bennett’s kick at goal drifted wide.

The final try was made straight from the Leeds academy as Walker and Grace Short combined for a four-pointer. The halfback drew in the defenders before offloading to Short, much to the cheers of the Rhinos faithful. Bennett couldn’t add the extra two, but it would not matter as the Rhinos would come out as 52-12 victors, heading into the playoffs on a strong performance.

Leeds: Stead, Whitehead, Robinson, Hardcastle, Cousins, Butcher, Walker, Northrop, Bruce, Hoyle, Short, Greening, Sykes. Subs: Casey, Bennett, Donnelly, Glynn.

Tries: Hardcastle x2, Whitehead x2, Bennett, Butcher, Northrop, Short, Sykes, Walker.

Conversions: Walker 3/5, Bennett 3/5