Peter Smith's Leeds Rhinos player ratings and report from Super League defeat by St Helens

With potentially a couple of players back, Rhinos will believe they can reverse this result in next week’s Challenge Cup tie, but they’ll have to play the way they did in the opening half an hour and maintain it all the way through.

In front of 15,284, Leeds’ discipline was good - they received eight penalties to Saints’ three - and they defended well for the most part, but the visitors’ defence was a tough nut to crack and Rhinos made some costly errors, all three of Saints’ tries coming after Leeds gave them the ball. It was a powerful start from the hosts and they were deservedly 8-0 ahead, but Saints hung on in the contest and got stronger as the first half went on. Saints trailed by two at the interval, but moved up a gear afterwards, though they didn’t gain a grip on the game until scoring back-to-back tries around the hour mark.

Leeds needed to get more out of their early dominance, but created only two clear chances. Harry Newman was pulled down by Lewis Dodd just short of the line before Rhinos went ahead with 10 minutes played when winger Luis Roberts stepped inside and held off two defenders for his first try of the campaign, off a lovely looping pass from Brodie Croft.

Rhyse Martin, playing at left-centre, converted and added a penalty after James Batchelor stole the ball from Lachie Miller, but Saints hit back six minutes before the interval when Roberts failed to take Lewis Dodd’s high kick and Moses Mbye picked up to send Waqa Blake in for a try which Jonny Lomax improved to make it a two-point ball game.

Saints went ahead at the end of the third quarter when nice hands across the line put Jon Bennison in at the corner and Lomax added the extras via a post. Saints got the ball from a knock-on call against Roberts, but it looked like the ball was stolen.

Rhinos could feel aggrieved at that, but Saints’ third try was self-inflicted. Miller kicked out on the full and, following the penalty, Mbye swooped over from acting half, with Lomax again converting to open a 10-point gap, which was how it stayed.

Leeds Rhinos: Miller, Roberts, Newman, Martin, Handley, Croft, Frawley, Sangare, Ackers, Oledzki, McDonnell, Bentley, Smith. Subs Holroyd, Edgell, O’Connor, Goudemand.

St Helens: Welsby, Blake, Hurrell, Whitley, Bennison, Lomax, Dodd, Walmsley, Clark, Lees, Mata’utia, Batchelor, Knowles. Subs Mbye, Bell, Wingfield, Delaney.

Referee: Jack Smith (Wigan). Attendance: 15,284.