Hull KR beat Castleford to go top of Super League

Betfred Super League

Hull KR (18) 36

Tries: Hiku, Burgess 2, Lewis, Hall, Evalds, May Goals: Lewis 4

Castleford (6) 6

Try: Mellor Goal: Milnes

Hull KR ran in seven tries in an emphatic win against struggling Castleford Tigers at Craven Park to go top of the Super League table.

Tigers opened the scoring in the sixth minute following a lengthy TMO review after Alex Mellor went over on the left-hand side.

That was as good as it got for Castleford, however, as Rovers took control and scored four tries without reply by half-time.

Peta Hiku, Joe Burgess, Mikey Lewis, Ryan Hall, Niall Evalds and Tyrone May all got on the scoresheet for the hosts as they leapfrogged Wigan at the top on points difference.

Hiku went over in the corner for his 13th Super League try of 2024 to get Rovers on the board and soon after Burgess dotted down in the corner.

Lewis, who was uncharacteristically wayward with his kicking, eased over on 32 minutes, and by then the outcome was all but inevitable.

Veteran winger Hall closed the scoring in the first half, finishing a flowing move to put Hull KR 18-6 up at the break.

The second half brought more of the same one-way traffic.

After Nixon Putt and Sauaso Sue were sent to the sin-bin for Tigers and Rovers respectively, Burgess added his second try of the match, capitalising on a fantastic one-handed grab from Hiku.

Following another cutting pass from Hiku, Burgess raced down the right side and passed to full-back Evalds to fly over.

May completed the scoring for Rovers who return to the top of the Super League having played one match more than Wigan Warriors.

Warriors go to Leeds Rhinos on Saturday and will return to the top if they avoid defeat.

Joe Burgess scored twice for Hull KR in their win over Castleford

Hull KR boss Willie Peters:

"When Joe Burgess is playing good rugby league it rubs off on his team-mates.

"Joe's been outstanding the last few weeks, he's really finding his feet. He knew he wasn't where he needed to be and he's worked hard.

"We want to be at the top of the table, playing finals and contesting for trophies, but there's still a long way to go. For us it's keeping our feet on the ground."

Castleford Tigers coach Craig Lingard:

"Our execution of the ball was off with some of the things we did. We were sloppy in defence.

"We were constantly chasing our tails. Our contact needs to be better, but that's what you get when you come up against a quality team.

"We can help ourselves by winning first-up contacts and getting some better line speed."

Hull KR: Evalds; Burgess, Hiku, Gildart, Hall; May, Lewis; Sue, Parcell, Whitbread, Hadley, Batchelor, Minchella.

Interchanges: Litten, Luckley, Storton, Tanginoa.

Castleford: Hoy; Qareqare, Johnson, Mellor, Senior; Milnes, Miller; Mustapha, Horne, Watts, El-Zakhem, Putt, Westerman.

Interchanges: Namo, Robb, Hill, Hindmarsh.

Referee: Liam Rush