HUDDERSFIELD GIANTS 4 LEEDS RHINOS 28
Laund Hill, Sunday

In rainy and miserable conditions, Leeds Rhinos overcame a courageous Huddersfield Giants side, as they look to build momentum before a heavyweight final round clash against York Valkyrie.

It was the worst possible start for the Rhinos, who dropped the ball on the opening kick off. The Giants managed to capitalise on the error, with England international Amelia Brown managing to exploit a gap on the left edge. The fullback slid over to give a shock lead to the hosts.

Bouncing back almost instantly, the Rhinos levelled the scores through a Caitlin Beevers try. The centre has been out of action for over a year after a PLC tear, and was met with a round of applause from the travelling Leeds fans.

Ruby Bruce added her first of the afternoon on 18 minutes, in what turned out to be the final try of the half. Scrappy conditions made any chance of attacking football that much more difficult.

Leeds, instead tried to go route one, and it worked with the hooker diving over from close range.

Twenty minutes into the second half, a sinbin to Giants’ Eva Izumi for dissent gave Leeds a player advantage, and they made it count as Izzy Northrop powered her way over.

Shortly after, another power play, this time from Shannon Brown, sealed the victory, as Leeds took an 18-point advantage with five minutes to go.

Bruce’s second four-pointer on the hooter rubbed salt into the wound, as Leeds showed their class in tough conditions.

GIANTS: 1 Amelia Brown, 2 Tilly Davies, 18 Eva Izumi, 4 Fran Copley, 5 Mollie Iceton, 16 Becky Grady, 7 Sam Hulme, 14 Gracie Hobbs, 9 Megan Preston, 10 Jess Harrap, 20 Amy Bennett, 25 Maddy Hutchison, 3 Lois Naidole. Subs (all used): 28 Lauren Exley, 22 Skye Jackson, 17 Abigail Liu, 15 Charlotte Shaw

Tries: Brown (2); Goals: Hulme 0/1; Sin bin: Izumi (58) – dissent

RHINOS: 2 Ebony Stead, 18 Liv Whitehead, 3 Caitlin Beevers, 5 Sophie Nuttall, 24 Tally Bryer, 6 Mel Howard, 7 Ruby Walker, 10 Izzy Northrop, 14 Ruby Bruce, 16 Kaiya Glynn, 11 Shannon Brown, 12 Lucy Murray, 8 Bella Sykes. Subs (all used): 9 Keara Bennett, 22 Connie Boyd, 25 Lacey Owen, 27 Jess Sharp

Tries: Beevers (7), Bruce (18, 79), Northrop (62), Brown (75); Goals: Howard 4/5

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

Half-time: 4-10