Wigan Warriors U18s 42 Leeds Rhinos U18s 22

Five second-half tries from Wigan Warriors saw Leeds Rhinos Under-18s Academy lose out 42-22 to the Cherry and Whites in the second round of the Top Four Academy Qualifiers at Robin Park Arena.

Compared to the sides’ last meeting, which ended with the Rhinos suffering a disappointing 44-12 result, an entertaining first half saw both sides go blow for blow as they looked for the first points of the evening. Even with the game momentarily darkening due to the solar eclipse overhead, play wasn’t spoiled as fans at Robin Park were quickly indulged by the quality on show.

After stopping Jacob Tooala driving for the try line, Wigan’s defence shifted into flowing attack as a break upfield by Matthew Halton looked to be out of the playbook from the Warriors’ win over Leeds a fortnight ago, but good work from Liam Watson on the wing stopped a certain try for Connor Oxbury as Leeds rallied. Matthew Halton also came up short for the home side, but the Warriors didn’t have to wait long to open the scoring for his side. Full back Sam Dickenson sped away through the Rhinos defence, eventually being dragged down by Seth Marchant, but after a kick from Evan Buckley on the last tackle was deflected behind for a goal line drop out, a patient move saw Alfie Maden fire a pass over the top for Zak Bielecki to touch down in the corner.

Leeds responded in emphatic fashion as Chev Walker’s side showed great character to score three tries in 15 minutes. Utilising ill-discipline from Wigan to boost them downfield, an offload by Alfie Steel close to the Warriors line kept the Leeds attack alive and Wade White fed Max Rhodes in to score on his first try since suffering an ankle injury back in March.

Uncharacteristic errors continued to hamper the home side as a poor pass from Evan Buckley allowed Watson to start a counterattack for the Rhinos. Speeding away from the desperate Wigan defenders, the winger couldn’t make it to the line before Dickenson could recover to bring down the Leeds player. Staying composed, a great shift wide caught the Warriors low on numbers and put Richardson over for a fine finish to give the away side their first lead.

Chances for Wigan’s Lewis Daniels and Clayton Mayberry passed Matty Smith’s side by as they drove low for the line on back-to-back plays, before Watson finished the attack by plucking Maden’s kick out of the sky under pressure from Oxbury. Heading back to the opposite end of the field, a forced knock-on by Kai Irvine on Dickenson handed Leeds possession within range again, and a bounce pass from Harvey Butterworth found the hands of Watson to finish in the corner. Marchant kicked two out of the three conversions to make the score 16-6 with under ten minutes remaining.

Wigan made sure they had one last response before the half-time whistle, which proved to be the catalyst for a strong second-half showing too. Second rower Harrison Pearson took an offload to power his way to the line on the half time whistle, and quickly added a second score when Mayberry and Maden combined to re-establish a 18-16 lead for the Cherry and Whites.

A horror start to the second half continued when Mayberry chose to go down the short side to find Buckley, who cut back against the grain to break free and go round White to get to the try.

The young Rhinos were losing grip on their lead, but had chances to pull themselves back into the contest; Hetherington, Butterworth and Townend all knocking on the ball in good areas of the field. Wigan on the other hand kept the scoreboard ticking over 30 points as a 40/20 kick by Maden was converted as Jon Hollins and Halton combined for the loose forward to score.

Buckley added his second of the game as he beat Leeds’ defence to hit the ground to get the ball down on the hour mark to make the score 36-16, but the Rhinos managed to cancel the try out with a second score for Watson. Following the water break, head coach Walker opted to move players around – including Watson into the full-back role – and he connected with Jack Mears and Kai Irvine to get the ball over the line. Marchant converted to make the score 36-22

The result was eventually confirmed when Dickenson weaved his way through to get over the line, confirming a 42-12 final score at Robin Park.

Teams

Warriors

1. Samuel Dickenson, 2. Conner Oxbury (22), 3. Bailey Jones, 4. Jovi Bentley-Elliott, 5. Zak Bielecki, 6. Alfie Maden, 20. Evan Buckley, 8. Lucas Fetherston, 9. Joe McGann, 10. Harry Mikhail, 11. Lewis Daniels, 12. Harrison Pearson, 13. Matthew Halton

Subs: 14. Clayton Mayberry, 15. Joe Hollins, 17. Cody Lyons-Ashworth, 16. Victor Omodele (18^th Man – Henry Briscoe)

Tries: Bielecki (13), Pearson (39, 42), Buckley (45, 61), Halton (56), Dickenson (75)

Goals: Maden 7/7

Rhinos

1. Wade White 2. Tom Richardson, 3. Sonny Hetherington, 4. Jacob Tooala, 5. Liam Watson, 6. Seth Marchant, 7. Kai Irvine, 8. Robin Smith, 9. Jack Mears, 10. Evan Jones, 11. Alfie Steel, 12. Max Rhodes, 13. Brennan Townend

Subs: 14. Noah Lunn, 15. Scott Walker, 18. Bailey Hardy, 17. Harvey Butterworth (18^th Man – Theo Roberts)

Tries: Rhodes (20), Richardson (25), Watson (32, 64)

Goals: Marchant 3/4