Super League: Castleford Tigers 6-60 Leeds Rhinos - 11-try visitors pull off stunning win
- Published
Leeds Rhinos' dominant win against Castleford Tigers was just their third in Super League so far this season
Betfred Super League |
|---|
Castleford (6) 6 |
Try: Turner Goal: Richardson |
Leeds (32) 60 |
Tries: T Briscoe 2, Leeming 2, Broadbent, Myler, L Briscoe, Hurrell, Dwyer, Gannon, Gale Goals: Martin 8 |
Leeds Rhinos put in a dominant display to stun Castleford Tigers with 11 tries as they coasted to a much-needed Super League victory.
Jordan Turner got Cas off the mark before Tom Briscoe began a breathtaking first-half spell from Leeds.
Jack Broadbent, Kruise Leeming (2), Richie Myler and Luke Briscoe sent them in with a sizable 32-6 half-time lead.
Konrad Hurrell, Brad Dwyer, Morgan Gannon, Tom Briscoe's second and Luke Gale's late score capped off victory.
Castleford, who came into the game without full-back Niall Evalds, back-row Adam Milner and prop Lewis Bienek, made the perfect start when Turner crossed in the second minute but things soon soured for the hosts.
Leeds had an unchanged side for the trip to The Jungle after slipping to ninth in the table following Sunday's loss to Hull, their fifth league defeat of the season.
They looked reinvigorated despite conceding early, and Tom Briscoe's fourth-minute opener for Leeds, his first of two tries on the night, set the tone for 60 unanswered points, the first six tries coming before the half-time hooter.
Despite their fine start to the season, Cas had suffered two consecutive defeats, and never looked like coming back after Leeds' stunning first-half flurry.
Gannon's debut try, just past the hour mark, came after the teenager did well to race on to Cas old boy Gale's cross-field kick. It also helped them cross the 50-point mark before the Leeds skipper's late try of his own.
Castleford Tigers boss Daryl Powell:
"It was tough to watch. I'm a proud man and I've always been a winner and that was so disappointing. It's hard to put into words.
"It's a terrible loss but it's not the end of the world and one thing we have got is an opportunity next week [Saturday's Challenge Cup semi-final against Warrington] to put that straight.
"I know people are getting hot under collar and frustrated but they can't be more frustrated than me. It's massively disappointing that we get the fans back in and we haven't performed."
Leeds Rhinos head coach Richard Agar:
"We came back pretty ruthlessly. I was also pleased with our response to last week when we didn't take our opportunities. We certainly fixed that up.
"It was a tremendous exhibition of attacking rugby in the first half and we scored tries in a number of ways. That's the pleasing thing.
"It will do us the world of good, to get that feeling of what our style of brand of rugby feels like. We've shown bits this year but not set after set like this."
Castleford: Eden; Olpherts, Mata'utia, Blair, Clare; Richardson, Turner; O'Neill, Griffin, Sene-Lefao, Smith, McShane, Watts.
Interchanges: Hepi, Matagi, Peachey, Martin.
Leeds: Myler; T Briscoe, Broadbent, Hurrell, L Briscoe; Sutcliffe, Gale; Tetevano, Martin, Mellor, Prior, Leeming, Oledzki.
Interchanges: Dwyer, Vuniyayawa, Donaldson, Gannon.