Super League: Leigh Leopards 20-6 Leeds Rhinos - Edwin Ipape tries help hosts to victory

Edwin Ipape (centre) scored two of Leigh's three first-half tries against Leeds

Leigh Leopards scored three early tries on their way to beating Leeds Rhinos in a Super League game for the first time.

Edwin Ipape crossed twice and Kai O'Donnell also touched down as Leigh raced 16-0 ahead, but James Bentley's try before half-time gave Leeds hope.

The Rhinos pressed in search of further tries but Leigh's defence held firm to prevent any more Leeds points.

Leigh, promoted from the Championship at the end of last season, have won five of their 10 games so far in 2023.

Adrian Lam's side now have an identical record to last season's beaten Grand Finalists Leeds, who missed out on a third straight Super League victory.

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Leigh had failed to win any of their previous seven Super League meetings against Leeds but fully deserved their win, with hooker Ipape's first-half double the platform for their success.

The Papua New Guinea international collected Lachlan Lam's superbly executed reverse kick for the hosts' opener and he powered over from dummy-half for his second.

Leeds enjoyed their best spell of pressure midway through the second half, but Ben Reynolds' two penalties nudged the hosts further clear and took the sting out of the visitors' comeback bid.

The Rhinos played the entire second period without half-back Aidan Sezer because of a leg injury.

Leigh head coach Adrian Lam told BBC Radio Manchester:

"I thought the first half was as good as I've seen from us in the time I've been at the club.

"[In the second half] we made a few errors and got a little bit tired but there was a lot to be proud of. The way that we defended our try line was unbelievable.

"Our crowd is amazing, I think they're proud of their team at the moment. We're taking it step by step but there's so much improvement left in us and I'm really excited about what's ahead."

Leeds head coach Rohan Smith told BBC Radio Leeds:

"We were pretty ordinary defensively early on and gave them a good start.

"Then we were disjointed and I thought we chased the scoreboard way too early, which led to errors when clearly in the second half we were winning the energy battle, but there was no execution on the back of it."

On Sezer's injury: "It was a quad issue, he couldn't remember a moment but he just couldn't get into a proper stride. They've assessed it, they're not 100% sure what it is, but he wasn't right."

Leigh: O'Brien; Briscoe, Leutele, Hardaker, Charnley; Reynolds, Lam; Amone, Ipape, Mulhern, Holmes, O'Donnell, Asiata.

Interchanges: Mellor, Seumanufagai, Wilde, Davis.

Leeds: Myler; Macdonald, Newman, Martin, Handley; Austin, Sezer; Oledzki, O'Connor, Lisone, McDonnell, Tetevano, Smith.

Interchanges: Tindall, Holroyd, Bentley, Sangare.

Referee: Ben Thaler

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