ST HELENS 24 LEEDS RHINOS 34
SAM BROCKSOM, Brewdog Stadium, Saturday

HALFBACKS Mel Howard and Ruby Walker both scored doubles as Leeds emerged victorious in a thriller at St Helens.

The Rhinos made one change, with Kaiya Glynn taking the place of prop Ella Donnelly, injured in the win over York.

Meanwhile, Saints started youngster Anna Dennis at full-back, with Amy Hardcastle moving to the wing. Rebecca Rotherham replaced Zoe Harris on the subs bench.

It was a professional start from the Rhinos, led by Walker, who opened the scoring following a six again in the opening set. The youngster took on the line and powered her way through the Saints left edge, breaking the deadlock after just three minutes.

Leeds continued to play on the front foot, and after a Saints error gave Leeds easy field position Connie Boyd pounced from a Lucy Murray offload. Howard missed the resultant conversion – her only wayward attempt of the match.

With the Rhinos remaining in control and Saints continuing to make mistakes, Walker added her second after a break on halfway, rounding Dennis to score by the posts.

But having fallen to a sixteen-point deficit, the hosts finally began to wake up.

A Luci McColm try got them right back into the contest, before Katie Mottershead scored a fine long-range effort after catching Leeds napping after a quick ruck.

Faye Gaskin converted the latter but not the former, closing the gap to 16-10 at the break.

Leeds began the second half as they had the first, with Howard crossing for her first try after she had forced a drop-out from the previous set.

Shaping to kick, the Australian took the line on herself, and despite Saints’ players being adamant she was held up, the referee awarded the try.

And to make matters worse, try-scorer McColm left the field through injury.

However, the hosts fired straight back, with England international Vicky Whitfield proving too strong for the Rhinos’ middle unit as she powered over from a strong carry.

A well-worked try from Phoebe Hook minutes later, which saw the ball travel from right to left, allowed Gaskin to potentially level the game. Her conversion instead drifted wide, with Leeds holding a slender 20-22 lead with just less than half an hour left to play.

With their advantage under real threat, the Rhinos responded by turning the screw. A pass from Walker to Evie Cousins put the centre over, only to be ruled forward, before the half-back put Frankie Blakey through a gap, but the pass went to ground.

But a professional foul from Paige Travis – who interfered in the ruck as Leeds tried to get a quick play-the-ball – proved the turning point.

That advantage allowed a gap to open for Howard to score her second, giving Leeds the lead back with just five minutes to go.

As Saints remained a player down, Leeds sealed the win with a try from Ebony Stead, who caught a Howard kick, bumped off two defenders and sent the travelling Leeds fans berserk.

GAMESTAR: Ruby Walker stepped up and showed some real class to give Leeds the advantage early on.

GAMEBREAKER: Paige Travis’ sin-bin gave Leeds an opportunity to retake the lead, and they executed that through Howard and Stead.

MATCHFACTS

SAINTS
31 Anna Dennis
4 Amy Hardcastle
32 Lily Sheron
3 Rachael Woosey
2 Phoebe Hook
22 Mia Drescher
7 Faye Gaskin
11 Shona Hoyle-Holdsworth
17 Caitlin Casey
12 Emily Rudge
14 Paige Travis
18 Luci McColm
13 Jodie Cunningham
Subs (all used)
1 Rebecca Rotheram
8 Vicky Whitfield
9 Katie Mottershead
16 Erin McDonald

Tries: McColm (30), Mottershead (33), Whitfield (48), Hook (51), Woosey (63)
Goals: Gaskin 2/5

RHINOS
1 Ruby Enright
5 Liv Whitehead
4 Evie Cousins
15 Connie Boyd
2 Ebony Stead
6 Mel Howard
7 Ruby Walker
22 Lois Naidole
9 Keara Bennett
10 Kaiya Glynn
27 Nicole Kennedy
12 Lucy Murray
13 Shannon Brown
Subs (all used)
14 Ruby Bruce
17 Grace Short
21 Frankie Blakey
26 Georgia Elliston

Tries: Walker (3, 22), Boyd (13), Howard (45, 75), Stead (79)
Goals: Howard 5/6

SCORING SEQUENCE: 0-4, 0-10, 0-16, 4-16, 10-16; 10-22, 16-22, 20-22, 24-22, 24-28, 24-34

Rugby Leaguer & League Express Women of the Match
Saints: Katie Mottershead; Rhinos: Ruby Walker

Penalty count: 5-4
Half-time: 10-16
Referee: Tyler Topping-Higson