Leeds Rhinos 25-14 Toulouse Olympique: Hosts secure long awaited win against fellow Super League strugglers
Leeds got their first victory in six matches against bottom-place Toulouse Olympique; The Rhinos announced this week that their new head coach will be Rohan Smith; Catch more Super League action on Sunday as Hull FC take on the Catalans Dragons live on Sky Sports Arena
Last Updated: 23/04/22 9:36am
Leeds came from behind to pick up their second Betfred Super League win of the season as they ran out 25-14 winners over fellow strugglers Toulouse at Headingley Stadium.
In what seemed like an early crunch game towards the foot of the table, Toulouse took the lead against the run of play midway through the first half through Paul Marcon but tries from James Donaldson and Brad Dwyer ensured the Rhinos took a 12-6 lead into the break.
Rhinos extended their advantage through Tom Briscoe before Rhyse Martin converted a penalty and Kruise Leeming's drop goal. Matty Russell replied for the visitors before Dwyer crossed for the second time. Junior Vaivai's late try was not enough to stop Rhinos from taking the points.
The visitors took the lead with their first foray as Tony Gigot's high kick picked out Marcon who rolled over the whitewash. Gigot added the extras to make it 6-0 in the 17th minute.
The hosts levelled things up just before the half-hour mark when Dwyer's ball from dummy half found Donaldson, who went over and brought it back to 6-6.
Leeds thought they had taken the lead in the 35th minute when Morgan Gannon touched down after receiving a crossfield kick but referee Tom Grant ruled the effort to be offside.
Moments later, the hosts finally had the advantage for the first time in the game when Dwyer's dummy fooled the Toulouse defence before he ran through to touch down, with Martin's conversion making it 12-6 at the break.
The second period started in similar fashion to the first and Leeds extended their advantage 10 minutes after the restart when Briscoe dived over under pressure in the corner. Martin missed his only conversion of the evening, making
it 16-6.
Rhinos added two more points to their tally to make it 18-6 when Dwyer converted a penalty after Toulouse spilled a high kick before regaining possession in an offside position.
With 20 minutes to go, Rhinos took the game further away from the struggling visitors when Leeming's drop goal nudged his side further in front.
Just as Rhinos threatened to take the game away from Toulouse, the visitors scored a try with just over 15 minutes to go when Russell touched down in the corner - but Gigot failed to add the extras.
Leeds again extended their lead when Dwyer sprinted from dummy half and crossed the whitewash for his second of the evening before Martin's conversion made it 25-10.
Toulouse made the most of some late pressure when Vaivai touched down but it was not enough and they remain rooted to the bottom of the table.
