Leeds Rhinos Under-18s continued their unbeaten run in 2025 as a classy first half was enough to dismiss the challenge of Huddersfield Giants in a 42-6 win.

Early nerves caught out the Giants in the first half as they allowed the Rhinos to attack the try line early. After letting the kick off go over the dead ball line to concede a goal line drop, Huddersfield called on their goal line defence, but it couldn’t hold out Leeds’ Callum Webster, who got the opening try after two minutes.

Wade White impounded early Giants errors as the full back backed up a strong performance against Castleford Tigers last time out with a try inside the first 10 minutes. The Giants had been making inroads with the ball in hand, but a forced knock on by Eugene Tinubu put the ball into the hands of White, who sprinted the length of the field to finish a spectacular solo effort.

With the early punters giving their support from the terraces, the Rhinos’ attack continued to flow, and Marcus Qareqare, on his return from an ankle injury, was the beneficiary. A half break by Harry Smith set Leeds up to test the Giants' defence and after moving them from right to the left side of the field, Qareqare snuck over in the corner to get Leeds’ third of the game.

As the game hit the 20-minute mark, Qareqare found himself over for a second as the winger supported a good line break by Jacob Hardy to find the try line again. Joe Diskin also got in on the act as the hooker took the ball out of dummy half and managed to weave himself a route straight to the try line to take the score to 20-0.

The Giants had chances to answer what had been a dominant showing in the first 40 minutes, but they lacked the Rhinos’ conviction close to the try line. Bailey Regan was halted short of the try line as Leeds’ slide defence came to the rescue, and Dan Shepherd also looked to score a certain try, only for the winger to be denied by White and Thomas in a great defensive effort. Luckily for Chev Walker’s side, their defensive resolve was rewarded as Oscar Brown intercepted a pass to start the breakaway, and White finished for his second to take the home side into the break 26-0 ahead.

The away side needed a quick start to the second half and Shepherd provided a try after seven minutes to close the gap on the scoreboard. Leeds on the other hand, were the slower side to get back into their rhythm, but a convincing 40 minutes was enough to see them home with a third win of the campaign.

Thomas jerked the side into life as he found his way to the try line to take Leeds’ lead back up to 24 points. Despite their advantage on the scoreboard, a badly timed challenge from Joe Diskin on Lewis Jagger saw the hooker go to the sin bin for a dangerous tackle in the air, but the Giants were unable to add to their sole score of the game.

Qareqare couldn’t stop scoring for the home side though and a great read by the winger saw him score his third try of the afternoon with a long-range finish under the posts. To round the game off, Jacob Hardy continued his run of scoring in every Academy game in 2025 as he took advantage of a lost ball by Logan Blacker to pounce and take the Rhinos to 40 points. Thomas converted his third of the game on a tough afternoon with the boot, but nevertheless the Rhinos secured the victory in front of the home crowd.

Teams

Rhinos Under-18s

1. Wade White, 2. Callum Webster, 3. Jacob Hardy, 4. Harley Thomas, 5. Marcus Qareqare, 6. George Brown, 7. Harry Smith, 8. Dan Stelfox, 9. Joe Diskin, 10. Dacx Jones-Buchanan, 11. Jacob Stead, 12. Noah Whittingham, 13. Presley Cassell

Subs: 14. Harvey Butterworth, 15. Dax Millington, 16. Oscar Brown, 17. Evan Jones (18^th Man – Tom Richardson)

Tries: Webster (2), White (6, 39), Qareqare (13, 21, 67), Diskin (30), Thomas (55), Hardy (75)

Goals: Thomas 3/9

Sin Bin: Diskin (59 - Dangerous tackle in the air)

Giants Under-18s

1. Lewis Jagger, 2. Daniel Shepherd, 3. Eugene Tinubu, 4. Bailey Regan, 5. Alex Chippendale, 6. Charlie Newton, 7. Marshall Land, 8. Stanley Hobson, 9. Monty Lumb, 10. Tom Hardy, 11. Zach Brown, 12. Harvey Barker, 13. Sam Beety

Subs: 14. Woody Potter, 15. Logan Blacker, 16. Dylan Brown, 17. Alfie Astwick (18^th Man – Alfie Farrar)

Tries: Shepherd (47)

Goals: Beety 1/1