Four tries from Oscar Brown led a high-scoring affair for Leeds Rhinos Under-18s as Chev Walker’s side ran in twelve tries in a 64-0 win over Hull KR Under-18s.

In their final home outing before the semi-finals, the young Rhinos made a strong start from kick-off as Oscar Brown opened the scoring in front of the AMT Headingley crowd. Walker’s side set the tone early with powerful carries that pushed them close to halfway, before a switch to the wing found Brown, who raced down the sideline and finished in the corner.

Leeds continued to ask questions of the Robins’ defence, who showed resilience to keep the home side from extending their lead. George Brown was hauled down after the half back found space to run, and two goal-line drop-outs gave the Rhinos repeat sets, but handling errors let the visitors off the hook.

The breakthrough finally came again as Marcus Qareqare caught Hull KR off guard with a line break, and two plays later Harry Smith exploited a gap to score.

Jacob Stead then added his name to the list of scorers, powering his way over the line despite the best efforts of the Robins’ defence, as Leeds began to find their rhythm. Harley Thomas was denied a try when he knocked on while leaping to claim George Brown’s last-tackle kick, but the missed chance didn’t slow Leeds down.

Tom Richardson capitalised on Hull KR being short on numbers to score his third try of the season, before quick hands sent Thomas over in the corner to take the Rhinos’ lead to 26 points at the break.

Two quick tries at the start of the second half gave the Rhinos a cushion that Hull KR couldn’t recover from.  An error early from Hull KR was pounced upon by the Rhinos as Qareqare broke clean through and passed for George Brown to score under the posts. Lore Jones-Buchanan found similar room to break, only for the forward’s pass to put Smith into traffic. Not panicking, a slick move put Oscar Brown in at the corner untouched.

George Brown added his second of the game shortly after – the half back taking the ball from a scrum feed to score following a knock on by Henry Hope. Another scrum play put Richardson in for his second too, before Oscar Brown took his tally to four tries, one with a well-designed play across the face of the Hull KR defence that put the centre in, and the other as he kicked ahead for himself to collect.

Heading into the closing stages, Thomas added a flying finish in the corner to round off a convincing display as the Rhinos took home a 64-0 result.

Teams

Rhinos Under-18s

1. Wade White, 2. Tom Richardson, 3. Marcus Qareqare, 4. Oscar Brown, 5. Harley Thomas, 6. George Brown, 7. Harry Smith, 8. Hughie Tinkler, 9. Elliott Fox, 10. Joe Butterfield, 11. Noah Whittingham, 12. Jacob Stead, 13. Zak Lloyd

Subs: 14. Alex Cowley, 15. Lore Jones-Buchanan, 16. Dax Millington, 17. Dacx Jones-Buchanan (18^th Man – Harvey Butterworth)

Tries: O.Brown (2, 49, 59, 63), Smith (18), Stead (22), Richardson (31, 55), Thomas (36, 71), G.Brown (46, 53)

Goals: Lloyd 4/6, Thomas 4/6

Robins Under-18s

1. Alfie Walker, 2. Josh Smith, 3. Henry Watkinson, 4. Luca Irwin, 5. Henry Hope, 6. Kai Irvine, 22. Freddie Watts, 25. Harrison Adams, 14. Luke Foreman, 20. Alfie Petty, 18. Kerry Chauke, 17. Jake Myers, 13. Alfie Wainberg-Woods

Subs: 7. Charlie Forrester, 24. Luca Irwin, 9. Alfie Wilson, 10. Drew Docherty (18^th Man – Adam Todd)