England 18 Combined Nations All Stars 4: Injury scare for Leeds Rhinos in mid-season international

There was an injury scare for Leeds Rhinos as England beat Combined Nations All Stars 18-4 in Saturday’s mid-season international at Warrington.
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Rhinos’ Matt Prior, playing at loose-forward for Combined Nations, suffered a bang to his sternum and went off after just 15 minutes.

He did not return to the action, despite attempting a brief warm-up on the sideline before half-time.

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That is a serious concern for Leeds, who resume their Betfred Super League campaign - following a 13-day break - away to champions St Helens on Thursday.

George Williams dashes clear to score for England. Picture by Alex Whitehead/SWpix.com.George Williams dashes clear to score for England. Picture by Alex Whitehead/SWpix.com.
George Williams dashes clear to score for England. Picture by Alex Whitehead/SWpix.com.

England will have been happy with a solid workout in one of only two warm-up games ahead of this autumn’s World Cup.

They made some errors and their lack of time together was obvious, but - in front of a crowd of 9,393 - England were quite clinical on attack and rarely troubled in defence.

Mikolaj Oledzki, Rhinos’ only representative in England’s 17, had a 30-minute stint off the bench either side of the interval and hit the ball up strongly.

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All Stars looked better when Rhinos’ Kruise Leeming came off the bench to play at hooker after 35 minutes.

Kruise Leeming, playing for Combined Nations, gets a pass away to Rhinos teammate Zane Tetevano. Picture by Alex Whitehead/SWpix.com.Kruise Leeming, playing for Combined Nations, gets a pass away to Rhinos teammate Zane Tetevano. Picture by Alex Whitehead/SWpix.com.
Kruise Leeming, playing for Combined Nations, gets a pass away to Rhinos teammate Zane Tetevano. Picture by Alex Whitehead/SWpix.com.

He was generally lively and made a nice break in the second half.

Rhyse Martin worked hard out of position in the right-centre and the fourth Leeds player in the All Stars’ squad, prop Zane Tetevano, had a strong start, but got only limited game time.

Wakefield Trinity’s Kelepi Tanginoa created a chance with a strong run early in the second period, but England were generally in control after Brodie Croft had missed an early chance for the Combined Nations.

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England opened the scoring after nine minutes when Jake Wardle crossed from a pass by Sam Tomkins, who landed the first of his three conversions.

England celebrate their win over Combined Nations. Picture by Alex Whitehead/SWpix.com.England celebrate their win over Combined Nations. Picture by Alex Whitehead/SWpix.com.
England celebrate their win over Combined Nations. Picture by Alex Whitehead/SWpix.com.

On 29 minutes John Bateman - who had a terrific game at loose-forward - made a clean break through the middle and George Williams was in support to cross on his home turf.

That completed the first half scoring, but England got off to a flier after the break, Bateman twisting over and managing to get the ball down inside three minutes.

The conversion made it 18-0 and the next try didn’t come until 14 minutes from time when England finally cracked after conceding three successive penalties.

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The third of those came when Kallum Watkins intercepted a pass from Leeming, but was judged to be offside and from the tap the Leeds hooker fed Shaun Kenny-Dowall who put Ken Sio over.

Martin’s touchline kick drifted wide. The Rhinos man got over England’s line two minutes from time, but the touchdown was ruled out for a double-movement after Tomkins and Tommy Makinson had made the tackle.

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