Hull KR lost 34-8 at Headingley
Leeds’ James McDonnell tackles Hull KR’s Mikey Lewis.
Hull KR risk dropping down to sixth in Super League after being well-beaten by Leeds Rhinos at Headingley, losing 34-8.
Rovers were bullied by the league leaders, who scored five tries on the night to assert their dominance over the table and beat Rovers for the fourth time in a row.
Noah Booth scored Rovers’ only try of the night, but by the time he touched down, the game was lost, such was the difference between the two sides.
KR remain third now but with Wigan Warriors, St Helens and Wakefield Trinity still to play, they risk sliding down to the final play-off spot.
Without the injured Sauaso Sue, Jez Litten, Joe Burgess and Sam Luckley, the challenge facing Rovers at Headingley was always a big one and it got that little bit harder when they lost Dean Hadley to a failed HIA after just a few minutes.
Hadley clashed heads with Tom Amone while attempting to make a tackle but Amone passed meaning he could come back onto the field.
In Amone’s absence, Rovers fell behind through a Jake Connor penalty after Tevita Pangai Jr’s flop tackle.
Rhyse Martin levelled it after James McDonnell was a little too rough with Mikey Lewis, but Connor kicked KR 4-2 up after Rovers were penalised for obstruction.
Then came the moment that swung momentum Leeds’ way for the remainder of the first half as Mikey Lewis failed to find touch after KR had been awarded a penalty. Leeds immediately made them pay, making swift progress into KR territory before Chris Hankinson touched down Jake Connor’s grubber.
With their tails up, the Rhinos turned the screw and took control of the enthralling contest. Piling on the pressure with a couple of six agains, Leeds kept going until Rovers’ scramble ran out of gas. Danny Levi broke the line, offloaded to Connor who found the inevitable Maika Sivo on the wing for his 26th try of the season.
Just before the break Connor extended Rhinos’ lead from the tee after Rhyse Martin was sin-binned for a professional foul.
And, after the interval, Sivo doubled his tally to effectively hand KR their fourth defeat in a row against the Rhinos.
From there, it was about damage limitation, really. Noah Booth got over the line for Rovers first of the night, but that effort was swiftly followed up by a Jai Whitbread dropped ball that was pounced on by Connor, who picked the ball up and chased home to score in front of the KR fans.
Ash Handley added another with around 10 minutes left and that rounded off a night to forget for the Robins against the team that has replaced them as Super League’s dominant force.