By Sam Brocksom

Leeds Rhinos Women suffered a 12-34 home defeat at the hands of Wigan Warriors Women.

Lois Forsell made three changes to the side that were defeated by York Valkyire. Shannon Brown made her first appearance with her new name after getting married last weekend, whilst Ruby Walker and Grace Short also returned in place of Ebony Stead, Grace Field and Frankie Blakey.

Lucy Murray and Mel Howard grabbed tries for the Rhinos, who are still looking for their first league win of the season.

The Rhinos got off to a poor start, conceding two tries in the opening 10 minutes. First, Molly Jones opened the scoring after Leeds gave away back-to-back penalties close to their own line. The Warriors shifted the ball left, and a favourable bounce of the ball allowed Jones to pick up and score.

Second, after a Leeds error 20m out, Wigan went west once more as they created an overlap to allow Ellise Derbyshire to score in the corner. Isabel Rowe couldn’t convert either try, and after 10 minutes the visitors led by eight.

The Rhinos’ first chance of the afternoon came short of the 20-minute mark, as a beautiful 40/20 from Mel Howard gave Leeds their first good-ball opportunity. They couldn’t make anything of it however, and fumbled possession on the final play.

After half an hour, Wigan had doubled their advantage. Jones’ second try of the afternoon came after a short ball from Banks saw her crash over on the left edge.

The Warriors’ final try of the first half came from Anna Davies, who somehow managed to get the ball down in the corner after Wigan went down the blindside on the last play of the set. Rowe still couldn’t find her kicking boots, and with ten left until the break, Wigan left 16-0.

Leeds managed to get points on the board shortly before the first half hooter. Lucy Murray crashed over from close range after a short ball from Howard, reducing the deficit. A conversion from Howard meant the half time score was 6-16 in favour of the visitors.

Wigan extended their advantage with two tries in the opening 15 minutes of the second half. Jones crossed for her hat-trick after Eva Hunter found her on the left edge, before Remi Wilton scampered over from close range. Rowe added the latter of the two tries to increase the scores to 6-26.

Hunter then turned from assister to scorer as the second rower broke the Leeds line and raced 40 metres to score on the left edge. Rowe’s missed conversion kept the Warriors advantage at 24.

Grace Banks added the Warriors final try. The young full back found space out the back and crossed in the right corner.

Leeds managed to grab a consolation try through Howard. The stand-off broke the Wigan line to score under the posts. She managed to convert her own try, leaving the final scores 12-34 on a disappointing afternoon for Lois Forsell’s side.

Leeds: Cousins, Whitehead, Nuttall, Greening, Bryer, Howard, Walker, Donnelly, Bennett, Northrop, Brown, Murray, Dainton. Subs: Bruce, Glynn, Frain, Short.

Tries: Murray, Howard

Goals: Howard 2/2