Leeds (14) 62
Tries: Webb 2, Hall 2, Buderus 2, Lauitiiti 2, McGuire, Watkins, Senior, Bush Goals: Burrow 7
Harlequins RL (4) 4
Tries: O'Callaghan
 Webb was one of four Leeds players to score two tries against Harlequins |
Leeds scored 58 unanswered points to respond to their World Club Challenge loss with an easy win over Harlequins. It took the Rhinos time to find their stride after Brent Webb's opener was cancelled out by Jamie O'Callaghan. But Leeds never looked back after a second Webb score and Ryan Hall's effort gave them a 14-4 half-time lead. And they then ran riot as Danny Buderus (2), Ali Lauitiiti (2), Danny McGuire, Kallum Watkins, Hall, Keith Senior and Tom Bush all went over after the break. Leeds got off to the perfect start in their bid to bounce back from their controversial defeat by Melbourne when Jay Pitts' flat pass put Webb in after only four minutes. But after Rob Burrow's conversion hit the post, Quins levelled when O'Callaghan beat Rhinos debutant Bush to Chris Melling's high cross-field kick to drop over.  | 606: DEBATE |
Errors crept into Leeds' game and they had to wait until the 27th minute to edge in front again when Webb cantered over following a Burrow break. Hall gave the home side daylight when he seized on Webb's floated pass to score and afterwards Quins crumbled. Buderus touched down twice in the space of five minutes and Lauitiiti crashed over before McGuire scooped up his own hack through to score. Burrow then put in Watkins, Hall squeezed over in the corner for his second and Lauitiiti became the fourth Rhino to grab a brace before Senior and Bush heaped further misery on Quins.
Leeds coach Brian McClennan:
"It's good to see the players enjoying themselves and expressing themselves and I thought we were able to pass the ball a bit and scored some nice tries. "[In the first half] we tried too hard, we made a lot of line breaks but we just didn't execute well. We got a bit impetuous and tried one pass too many. "I think that's what we did better in the second half. When we made splits, we didn't think we had to score. We made better decisions with the football." Harlequins coach Brian McDermott:
"There's no anger from me. The scoreline and the nature of the tries was tough. "When we get those players back, we'll have our run but it's not nice at the moment while it's happening. "I don't think any of our players turned it in out there tonight and that's the most impressive thing for me."
Leeds: Webb, Hall, Watkins, Senior, Bush, McGuire, Burrow, Bailey, Diskin, Peacock, Eastwood, Pitts, Jones-Buchanan. Replacements: Leuluai, Lauitiiti, Burgess, Buderus. Harlequins RL: Jones-Bishop, O'Callaghan, Clubb, Howell, Sharp, Melling, Edwards, Wilkes, Wilkes, Randall, Ward, Williamson, Bolger, Golden. Replacements: Smith, McCarthy-Scarsbrook, Bibb, Bryan. Att: 12,684. Ref: Thierry Alibert (Toulouse).
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