St Helens v Leeds Rhinos – Defence key to hopes of making Women’s Challenge Cup Final

HOLDERS LEEDS Rhinos have form and momentum going into tomorrow’s Women’s Challenge Cup semi-final at St Helens (2pm), prop Amy Johnson says.
Leeds' Amy Johnson. Picture: Alex Whitehead/SWpix.comLeeds' Amy Johnson. Picture: Alex Whitehead/SWpix.com
Leeds' Amy Johnson. Picture: Alex Whitehead/SWpix.com

Rhinos are yet to concede a point in the competition, having beaten York City Knights 70-0 and Warrington Wolves 74-0.

They have won five successive league and cup games since a 27-0 loss at Castleford Tigers in April and scored 212 points and let in only six in their last four matches.

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“We are in great form at the moment and we’ve got a lot of momentum,” said Johnson. “We are building every week and working on different areas and getting stronger and we are really excited for this weekend.”

But Saints are second in Super League, ahead of Leeds on points difference and Johnson admitted tomorrow’s game represents a big step up in class.

“It is a semi-final and it is going to be a good game,” she predicted. “We’ve not played Saints yet and it will be a really good test. It will be tough, but I think there’s a lot of excitement about playing at their place.

“We were fortunate to play at Warrington Wolves’ ground in the final last year and we’ve played at Headingley so we’ve quite a lot of experience playing at different stadiums.

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“It’s a great opportunity to go to a new stadium we’ve not played at before and show what we are made of.”

Leeds’ defence holds the key to their prospects of retaining the trophy they lifted last season.

In their six league games so far Saints have scored 224 points, 64 more than Rhinos.

Johnson said: “We are defending really well. We have a really strong group of players who fight for each other on the pitch and we will have to be good this week.”

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Johnson was born in Cheshire, but moved to Leeds after university. A former rugby union player and footballer, she joined Rhinos last year after spells with Stanningley and Bradford Bulls. Having represented Yorkshire in last year’s Origin series, she was switched to Lancashire for this season’s tournament.

Castleford Tigers visit Wakefield Trinity in tomorrow’s other semi-final (2pm).