After their comprehensive win over the Leigh Leopards on Tuesday night in the delayed round two fixture, a buoyant and table topping Wigan Warriors travelled to Leeds for their first encounter of 2024 with a Rhinos side who all but saw their chances of making the play-offs disappear last night when the Catalans Dragons scraped a narrow win against the Giants.
The Rhinos are now six points adrift of the play-off places with just seven games of the regular season remaining while Wigan trail Hull KR on points difference after the Robins big win over the Castleford Tigers last night.
The bookies predicted one-way traffic with the Rhinos given a very stingy six points start on the handicap coupon as they looked to salvage some pride from a dreadful season, and to make things even worse for the Rhinos, Jai Field was back in the Warriors starting thirteen.
It was ominous for Leeds from the kick-off as the Warriors set about playing all their rugby deep inside the Leeds half. The Rhinos last ditch defence managed to keep the visitors at bay and n the sixteenth minute the Rhinos took the lead with a superb flowing try over eighty metres. Rhyse Martin took a delightful miss-out pass from Lachlan Miller and started the rampage downfield before finding the supporting Miller who drew the last defender before passing outside to Harry Newman who went twenty before scoring under the sticks. Martin added the conversion, Leeds six ahead with seventeen on the clock.
The Leeds defence was frustrating Wigan who were spending most of the game time with the ball and camped in the Rhinos half. The statistics were against Leeds but the scoreboard in their favour.
A high tackle from Sam Walters on James Bentley enabled Martin to kick a twenty-metre penalty goal to extend the lead to eight points on thirty-six minutes.
A Miller break should have seen Newman in for his second on forty-five but the Rhinos full-back went for the line and was tackled twenty-out. Wigan were then offside at the play the ball and Martin kicked the resulting penalty for 10-0.
Wigan’s tiredness and indiscipline was starting to cost them as they conceded penalty after penalty. On fifty-four Miller pushed through a Liam Farrell tackle to reach for the line and ground off a Brodie Croft inside pass. Martin added the conversion for 16-0, it was now looking like a tough ask for the Champions elect.
Just before the hour mark Adam Keighran was sinbinned for repeated high tackling, the latest on Martin who then kicked the resulting penalty for an 18-0 lead.
Leeds turned defence into attack on sixty-four with James McDonnell the try scorer after a sixty-metre break orchestrated by Brodie Croft. Martin added the conversion for 24-0, Wigan needing five scores in fourteen minutes, a mission impossible.
Tempers boiled over on seventy-one, Harry Smith dragging Bentley away from the tackle followed by a melee, referee Moore deciding to just talk to the captains.
Liam Marshall was on a one man overlap on seventy-two for a simple consolation try by the left corner flag. Keighran was wide with his conversion attempt, the gap still twenty points.
A swinging elbow by Harry Smith, into Bentley on the ground, saw the Wigan man red carded and on the next set Martin collected a Paul Momirovski tap back from a Miller cross field kick to drop over the line for the icing on the cake for the Rhinos. Martin added the conversion from the touchline for a perfect kicking afternoon and a sensational 30-4 win for the Rhinos.
This was without doubt the best Leeds Rhinos defensive performance of the season and the foundation upon which they built a surprise win by a pretty impressive margin. Wigan were undoubtedly fatigued after playing three games in ten days, but they were far below their usual scintillating best. Leeds still have the slightest of hopes of a play-off place, Wigan will regroup and look for the win against Saints next weekend at Magic to go back to the top of the table.
Leeds Rhinos: Miller (T), Fusitu’a, Momirovski, Newman (T), Edgell, Croft, Frawley, Lisone, Ackers, Sangare, McDonnell (T), Martin (T, 6/6 G), O’Connor. Subs: Bentley, Goudemand, Nicholson-Watton, Littlewood. 18th Man: Johnson.
Wigan Warriors: Field, Miski, Keighran (SB on 60, 0/1 G), Wardle, Marshall (T), Hampshire, Smith (SO on 78), Havard, Leeming, Thompson, Nsemba, Farrell, Ellis. Subs: Walters, Mago, Byrne, Eckersley. 18th Man: Dupree.
Half-Time: 8-0.
Full-Time: 30-4.
Score Progression: 4-0, 6-0, 8-0 : HT: 10-0, 14-0, 16-0, (SB), 18-0, 22-0, 24-0, 24-4, (SO), 28-4, 30-4 :FT.
Lead Exchanges: Leeds.
Referee: Liam Moore.
