Match Report 

Harlequins 26 Leeds Rhinos 36

Sunday 11th May 2008, Twickenham Stoop.

The Rhinos travelled down to the Twickenham Stoop early today in hope of a victory over the London based rugby league side to put one foot closer to the prestigious Carnegie Challenge Cup final at Wembley Stadium in the humid conditions.

But the 'Quins were looking to give their fans some hope after last weeks dissapointing loss of engage Super League's second place team, Catalan Dragons, in the closing minutes of the game.

Bluey started with ex-academy star Ben Jones-Bishop at full back, covering for Brent Webb who is currently on a flight back from Sydney after taking part in international duties.

In the opening exchanges of the game, Harlequins appeared to put the Rhinos defense under immense pressure, but Jones-Bishop stood and watched a 'Quins bomb bounce against the cross bar.

The Leeds forwards were dominant, although all their hard work wasn't helped with poor kicks on the last.

On 13 minutes, the Rhinos finally added some points onto the board - but it was from a 'Quins error. Danny McGuire managed to knock the ball out of Will Sharp's grasp and Jones-Bishop was involved again. He ran down field, managing to fend and spin away from Henry Paul's attempted tackle, and sprinted a further 40 metres to go over for his first try in the blue and amber strip. Sinfield added the extras to make the score 0-6.

Exactly 10 minutes later and Harlequins were back. Leeds knocked on only 30 metres from their own line, and after only a couple of runs from dummy half, Tony Clubb pilled his way over from close range. Henry Paul missed a pretty easy conversion attempt, which meant that the Rhinos were still in the lead: 4-6

With a little more than 10 minutes to go in the half, McGuire changed his running angle to collect an offload from Jamie Peacock to then add a touch of magic by stepping past the entire 'Quins defence, to score under the sticks. Inevitably, Sinny converted and the score was now 4-12.

The 'Quins players and fans were furious with referee Ian Smith after they believe a whole passage of play from the World Champions was forward. But play didn't stop and with only a few minutes remainding in the half, Rob Burrow kicked down the field, aiming towards Watkins. He did, and exploded through a tackle, breeding a superb one handed offload to Donald, who then picked the ball up from his boots before going over for the Rhinos. Sinfield converted once more and Leeds were 18-4 up at the break.

It only took four minutes of the second half for the Rhinos to add more points to the scorecard. A typical Burrow break enabled Matt Diskin to produce a resplendent grubber kick which sent over McGuire for his second. Sinfield found his boot to make the score 4-24.

But the 'Quins then started a fightback - no way were they going to be on the wrong end of a cricket score like the last time these two sides met. On 49 minutes, Danny Orr side stepped passed the sliding Leeds defence. Henry Paul converted this time to revive the capital's (or a couple of thousand fans) hope. The score was now 10-24.

Only three minutes later and, suprisingly, Harlequins were in once more. Donald managed to knock dead a risky 'Quins crossfield kick but of course, that forced a repeat set. But Henry Paul managed to find a gap in the Leeds defence, and after he converted his own, the score was now 16-24 with 26 minutes remaining.

The lead was cut down to only two when Henry Paul went over for his second from close range, but then, only a few minutes later it was the 'Quins that took the lead for the first time in the game, this time it was Danny Orr that got his second. Thankfully, Paul missed the conversion to keep the score 26-24, but they still had the lead.

The Rhinos were struggling, particularly with nine minutes to go when Harlequins have a try dissalowed for a forward pass. Moments later, a clever play by Sinfield gave the Rhinos possesion after he took advantage of the new rule, by which a player can gain possesion, from a twenty metre restarts, if he kicks and it bounces into touch. From the resulting scrum came a dramatic sequence of play, including a neat offload by Jordan Tansey to pocket-rocket Robbie Burrow. Then, in the summer sun of London, the Rhinos showed their true class as Jamie Peacock powered over to score. Sinfield added the extras to give Leeds the lead: 26-30.

In the final minute of the game, Danny McGuire completed his hatrick to make the final score 26-36 in favour of the Rhinos.

MATCH REACTION TO FOLLOW! 

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