By Phil Gordos at the Millennium stadium

The action failed to match the pre-match fireworks in Cardiff

Steve McNamara was unhappy. He had just seen his Bradford Bulls side lose 40-26 to bitter rivals Leeds Rhinos and was busy lambasting his players for their woeful performance.

He blamed them for losing concentration, for gifting Leeds field position, for getting frustrated.

"I'm very, very disappointed. It is not good enough," he moaned.

But at least he was calm and rational.

Spool back 12 months and he could not contain his ire after his team had been denied victory against the same opponents by several contentious refereeing decisions.

Frothing at the mouth, he had come close to demanding a public inquiry after Jordan Tansey's injury-time try had somehow been allowed to stand by Steve Ganson, robbing the Bulls of a deserved win.

Sadly, there was little to match that drama when the two sides met again at Cardiff's Millennium Stadium on Saturday.

A number of handling errors and ill-timed slips on the greasy surface robbed the contest of any kind of fluidity early on as both sides failed to hit the highs they are capable of.

606: DEBATE Your thoughts on the action

And Kallum Watkins aside, there was precious little to get excited about.

Having celebrated his 17th birthday in March, the teenage centre had suddenly found himself catapulted into the Leeds first-team because of a raft of injuries.

Now, in only his third game for the senior side, he was scoring a try to help cancel out Semi Tadulala's opening score for the Bulls.

"What an experience for the young man," enthused Leeds coach Brian McClennan. "We've got a high opinion of Kallum and there's a chance we've got a good player there."

He is probably right, though Watkins will, in all likelihood, find himself back in the academy ranks once the club's injury crisis abates.

While the first half may have failed to inspire, there were a few thrills after the half-time interval.

Unfortunately for Bradford, they were chiefly for the Leeds fans to savour.

Four quickfire tries from debutant Eric Anselme, who scored with his first touch after coming off the bench, Keith Senior, Brent Webb and Scott Donald put the Rhinos firmly in command and on the path to victory.

Warrington's Andy Bracek scores in his side's win over huddersfield

With the game effectively over, a few minor dust-ups between the two teams kept interest levels slightly raised, but the excitement had all but disappeared by the time the final hooter sounded.

Which is why it all felt a little flat as thousands of rugby league fans trooped from the stadium, heading for the bars, restaurants and clubs located just a stone's throw away.

Thirty-five tries were scored on day one of Millennium Magic 2008 - not quite as many as this year's entire Six Nations - and a total of 206 points scored.

But none of the opening three games lived up to expectations.

Warrington and Huddersfield may have shared 12 tries between them but this wasn't a feast of attacking rugby.

Rather, it was the first of three error-ridden games, when the side that made the fewest mistakes came out on top.

Thankfully for Paul Cullen, perhaps under slightly more pressure than Giants rival Jon Sharp, that was the Wolves.

As for Castleford's match against Wakefield, well, that was a big letdown.

They may have beaten both Leeds and St Helens this season, but the Tigers were a huge disappointment on their Millennium Magic debut, as coach Terry Matterson, using words like "diabolical" and "total capitulation" to describe his team's display, conceded.

John Kear was positively beaming, as you would expect, but perhaps the final word on day one should go to McNamara.

Disgruntled he may have been with his own side's performance, he was at least gracious in defeat.

"Credit to Leeds, they scored some super long-range tries," he said.

Amid the post-match furore of a year ago, there had been little time for such magnanimity.