Leeds Rhinos Under 18 62 Wakefield Trinity Under 18 12

Four tries from half-back George Brown on his under-18 debut saw Leeds Rhinos rack up 62 unanswered points in a 62-12 win over Wakefield Trinity Under-18s at Stanningley.

After conceding two early tries to the visitors, the Rhinos swung into action thanks to Brown’s quartet, plus there were two tries for captain Presley Cassell as well as further scores from Harley Thomas, Jacob Stead, Marcus Qareqare, Callum Webster and Joe. disk.

Head coach Tony Smith has tweaked his side that beat Hull FC two weeks ago, bringing on Brown in place of Fergus McCormack. Oliver Smart is also back on the wing, while Noah Whittingham has been moved back into the starting line-up after coming off the bench against Hull.

The young Rhinos gave themselves a mountain to climb in the early stages of the game, conceding two quick tries at the hands of Jamie Field’s Trinity side. Using Leeds ill-discipline to their advantage, Sam Mackenzie was able to open up the Rhinos edge and feed Will Brough to score.

Soon after, a Brown kick gave Wakefield possession over the halfway line and straight from the crease, Dominic Sinfield broke for a direct finish under the posts. Brough converted both tries to make it 12-0 after 10 minutes.

From then on, the game was dominated by the home team as they started to kick into high gear. Presley Cassell, who had impressed for the reserves five days earlier, gave Wakefield a scare as he pounced on Harry Smith’s shot but was called offside by the referee to ease the pressure on the visitors. Not long after, however, Rhinos made a breakthrough as Harley Thomas made a wicked step to mistake the Trinity defense and score.

Wakefield’s lead was quickly cut to two points when Cassell finally got his try after the loose forward swapped passes with Joe Phillips to touch down. Thomas added the conversion to close the score at 12-10 in favor of Trinity.

Both sides continued to battle as the half wore on; Ellis Lingard came off the bench and came very close to finding the try line. Resolute Leeds defense kept Trinity at bay and they reaped their rewards as Brown crossed for his first of the night after finding a hole to scramble through.

As against Hull FC last time, a late-half sinew saw Harry Smith leave the pitch for ten minutes as the half was called off for kicking the ball after a Leeds attack fell. Trinity tried to fight back as Noah Crawshaw and Ewan Molyneux were both denied chances, but the referee’s half-time whistle ended proceedings as Leeds found themselves 16-12 ahead.

In the second half, the young Rhinos put Wakefield to the sword as Tony Smith’s side produced seven tries in a sensational 40 minutes of rugby.

Brown started proceedings within two minutes by holding on to a Joe Diskin break down the middle and the centre-back found himself in the right place as the hooker came back to take the chance to score. Substitutes Bobby Hartley and Jayemm Oladipupo also caused Wakefield problems and following some good drives from the pair, Presley Cassell was able to use his strength to break a hole in the Trinity defence. Thomas converted both tries to make it 28-12.

The tries continued and three more within ten minutes took the game away from the visitors. Jacob Stead, who found himself among the scorers in his first game for the Reserves against London, continued his try-scoring form to grab Leeds’ sixth before Brown sealed his hat trick as he blazed a line broken defensive from Wakefield.

Trinity’s best chance of the half saw Crawshaw go close to latching on to Noah Kershaw’s corner but the winger couldn’t get the ball neatly over Callum Webster. From behind the chance Marcus Qareqare got a lucky bounce on the ball as full back Wakefield Mackenzie let a high kick from Smith hit the floor and Qareqare was there to claim and touch down to take the Rhinos through of 40 points.

An injury to Thomas saw Leeds restructure his spine; Dylan Hutchinson, who slotted in at full-back, having initially been introduced as a substitute. He was quickly involved in the action when he held up a Harry Taylor break straight from a scrum and then fed Webster who sprinted away from the Wakefield defense to finish off a great effort. Smith took over the batting duties and put the ball between the posts to take Leeds to 50 points.

The score is not over, even though the game has reached the final phase. Diskin was quick to exploit a sluggish Trinity defense and score in the back tackles but the game belonged to man of the match Brown who completed the scoring with another great try. Stead stepped up to convert the last try to give the Rhinos a confident 62-12 win over their Yorkshire rivals.

The Reserves take to the field next week, giving some of the young Rhinos a chance to recover and prepare for a trip to face St Helens at the Totally Wicked Stadium on Saturday 25th.^th May, starts at 13.00.

Rhinoceros

1. Harley Thomas, 2. Callum Webster, 3. Marcus Qareqare, 4. Harry Taylor, 5. Oliver Smart, 6. George Brown, 7. Harry Smith, 8. Joe Butterfield, 9. Joe Diskin, 10. Joe Phillips, 11. Noah Whittingham, 12. Jacob Stead, 13. Presley Cassell

Subs: 14. Dylan Hutchinson, 15. Jayemm Oladipupo, 20. Bobby Hartley, 17. Declan White (18^th The Man – Alex Cowley)

Tries: Thomas (16), Cassell (18, 48), Brown (25, 42, 58, 80), Stead (54), Qareqare (64), Webster (73), Diskin (78)

Goals: Thomas 6/8, Smith 2/2, Stead 1/1

Sin bin: Harry Smith (31) – professional foul

Trinity Wakefield

1. Sam Mackenzie, 2. Noah Crawshaw, 3. Will Brough, 4. Dominic Sinfield, 5. Cobie McGillvary, 6. Noah Kershaw, 7. Rowan Stephenson, 8. Harvey Roberts, 9. William Hardie, 10. Alfie Briggs, 11. Ewan Molyneux, 12. Ethan Barnes, 13. Jack Easton

Subs: 14. Cain Staveley-Carr, 15. Ashton Winks, 16. Hakan Aydin, 17. Ellis Lingard (18^th The Man – Thomas Bell)

Tries: Brough (4), Sinfield (8)

Goals: Brough 2/2