5 get 9/10 in Peter Smith's Leeds Rhinos player ratings from sensational 14-8 win at Hull KR

With Leigh Leopards and St Helens having both won earlier in the round, Rhinos were down to fifth in Betfred Super League when the game kicked off. A win for Hull KR would have opened a six-point advantage at the top of the table and meant the league leaders’ shield was theirs to lose. It looked like that would be the case at half-time, when the hosts led 8-0.

Rhinos hung during the first 40 minutes; they occasionally looked like they might threaten on their left flank, but didn’t create any sustained pressure. The home side would have been further ahead, but forward passes cost them three tries and that proved decisive after the break as Leeds completed a marvellous 14-8 success.

They went up a gear from the first set, quickly levelled the scores with a powerful try by Sam Lisone and then sealed a memorable win - the first time Hull KR had lost to anyone other than Wigan Warriors in exactly a year - through a quite magnificent long-range touchdown 11 minutes from time, finished off by Lachie Miller. It was an outstanding team performance and thoroughly deserved victory, lifted Leeds back to third place in the table and will give them massive belief for the rest of the campaign.

It was a tight, physical contest decided by narrow margins and the Robins will rue missed chances in the first half. In the opening moments, Jake Connor’s kick was taken by Joe Burgess who found himself running through a huge gap. Arthur Mourgue was in support, but his pass - after Ryan Hall had come across - was forward.

Alfie Edgell was tackled just short from Connor’s offload moments later, but Hull KR went ahead after 11. Connor’s forward pass put the visitors under pressure near their own line and they cracked when Elliot Minchella and Tyrone May combined to send Rhyse Martin over for his first Super League try as a Robin, against his old club.

Morgue landed the conversion and added a second goal on 27 minutes. Referee Chris Kendall ruled a knock-on when Lewis dropped the ball in a tackle by Harry Newman, but the hosts challenged and video referee Liam Rush awarded them a penalty for a high shot, which the full-back converted. Lewis went off for a head injury assessment and didn’t return. They aren’t the same team without him, but did get over Leeds’ line twice in the final four minutes of the half, the last pass - from Mourgue to Tom Davies and Kelepi Tanginoa to Jack Broadbent - being forward both times.

Having ridden their luck, Leeds had a purple patch at the start of the second half and the scores were level after 51 minutes. Sam Lisone stormed over from Cameron Smith’s pass, Connor converting, then adding a penalty after Jared Waera-Hargreaves was penalised in possession in front of the Robins’ posts, apparently for dissent.

The penalty awarded by the video referee was the only one in the first half. Leeds got all of the three issued in the second 40 minutes. They were dominant throughout the half and their winning score was glorious: Miller handled twice, Edgell and Connor were also involved and Handley provided the final pass to send the full-back in. There won’t be a better team touchdown this season. Connor converted and Rhinos saw out the final 10 minutes with no major alarms. The Robins’ only attack came off a dropped kick by Miller, but they had no answer to Leeds’ scramble in defence, despite some basketball-style offloads.

Hull KR: Morgue, Davies, Hiku, Broadbent, Burgess, Lewis, May, Sue, McIlorum, Hadley, Whitbread, Martin, Minchella. Subs Litten, Waera-Hargreaves, Luckley, Tanginoa.

Leeds Rhinos: Miller, Edgell, Handley, Newman, Hall, Croft, Connor, Oledzki, Connor, Jenkins, Watkins, McDonnell, Palasia. Subs Bentley, Smith, Lisone, Holroyd.

Referee: Chris Kendall (Huddersfield).