A poor effort by us all round says Leeds Rhinos coach Richard Agar

Tigers raced into a 14-0 lead in the first half and though error-ridden Rhinos cut the gap to two points at one stage, the visitors always looked the more likely winners. Castleford’s victory keeps alive their faint top-six hopes and dealt a major blow to Rhinos’ chances of play-offs qualification.

Agar felt his side should have built up a big lead in the early stages and he said: “There’s no excuses, we had enough chances.”

Agar admitted: “I thought it was a poor performance from us on both sides of the ball.

“We had enough opportunities in the first 15 minutes, but our execution was off.

“I am going to credit Castleford for their scramble defence, but at the same time we had so many chances and lost opportunities and we were too easy to score against.

“Castleford didn’t have to work hard enough for their tries. Attack and defence, we were nowhere up to it.”

Tigers recalled a host of players and boss Daryl Powell was delighted with the way they came back from time out with coronavirus.

“We didn’t have much control and we put ourselves under a lot of pressure, but we were so desperate to win the game,” he reflected. “It was an incredible win.” for us and one we desperately needed.

“I thought we were great in lots of areas.

“If we play with that spirit and have an equal share of possession, we are going to be a tough team to beat.”