Hull KR boss Willie Peters hails 'outstanding' Leeds Rhinos & his thoughts on Harry Newman tackle incident

Rhinos hit back from 8-0 down to stun the Robins 14-8 at Sewell Group Craven Park and prevent the Challenge Cup holders from going six points clear at the top of Betfred Super League. It was Hull KR’s second defeat in all competitions this season and the first time they had lost to anyone other than Wigan Warriors in exactly a year.

“Leeds were outstanding, they deserved it,” Peters admitted afterwards. “I am not taking anything away from them, they were the better side.”

The hosts had three touchdowns ruled out for forward passes in the opening 40 minutes and Peters reflected: “I thought we had a lot of opportunities in the first half and if we’d executed a couple of those, the score could have been more [convincing]. I was happy, really happy, with what we did in the first half, except for the execution

“That hurt us because we came out slow in the second half and they won a lot of field position and got on top. We had some ill discipline there and they came over the top of us in that back end. We had opportunities to put ourselves in a stronger position to win the game. If you don’t do that it hurts you, especially in big games like that.”

Hull KR had to cope without reigning Man of Steel Mikey Lewis after he failed a head injury assessment during the first half. Referee Chris Kendall felt the stand-off had knocked on, but Rovers challenged that decision and video official Liam Rush awarded them a penalty for a high tackle by Harry Newman. The concussion means Lewis will be unavailable for Saturday’s game at fourth-placed Leigh Leopards. Peters commented: “I don't want to say too much on it. I’ll have a look at it. There's probably a bit of learning there. I don’t think it is too bad, he is fine.”

Speaking in his post-match press conference, Peters was unaware of an incident of alleged eye-gouging by a Hull KR player which was placed on report. “That’s the first I’ve heard of it,” he said.