Rhinos survive Wake-up call

Leeds made it six wins on the spin in all competitions with a 28-22 triumph over Wakefield at a rain-soaked Headingley.

The Rhinos followed up their dramatic 12-10 success over Wigan in the Carnegie Challenge Cup with another hard-fought victory on home soil.

Captain Kevin Sinfield kicked 12 points and also set up hooker Danny Buderus for the try that clinched the victory with five minutes to play.

However, Leeds had to come back from an early 12-0 deficit to see off the Wildcats, who were pipped 34-30 by the same opponents during Magic Weekend in Murrayfield at the start of May.

Fast start

Just as they had done in that last meeting of the two sides in Scotland, Wakefield raced out of the blocks against the reigning champions.

Glenn Morrison marked his return from a thumb injury with the opening try, the former Bradford forward accepting Paul Cooke's cut-out pass before holding off Danny McGuire to score next to the uprights.

A second try came when Sam Obst was in the right place to collect the loose ball when his own kick had ricocheted around off several players.

However Leeds did not take long to hit back, three successive penalties eventually leading to McGuire darting over from Sinfield's offload.

Jamie Jones-Buchanan's try, set up by Carl Ablett's short pass, allowed Sinfield to level the scores in the 25th minute by adding the extras.

The visitors edged back ahead thanks to a penalty from Cooke, but a careless turnover allowed the Rhinos to steal the lead right before the break.

Some quick handling from Lee Smith, who started in the centres ahead of Keith Senior following his match-winning try against the Warriors, Sinfield, McGuire and Brent Webb sent Scott Donald in at the right corner.

The conversion was added from the touchline and with their side 18-14 in front, the home fans were in full voice at the start of the second half.

But Aaron Murphy silenced the home faithful when he took a short ball from the influential Obst to force his way over the line on the left.

For the first time in the match Cooke could not convert, though, meaning the two Yorkshire rivals were locked together at 18 apiece.

Morrison carded

The score remained that way until nine minutes from the end when Smith seized on a fumble in Wakefield territory and kicked into space. The England international's pursuit of the ball was halted by Morrison, who was punished for his rather obvious foul with a yellow card from referee Ian Smith.

Sinfield slotted over the penalty to put the Rhinos in front again before superbly offloading to the supporting Buderus for a fourth home try.

Although a late unconverted effort from Jason Demetriou out on the right gave Wakefield hope, they were once again unable to get the better of the Rhinos.

Fittingly it was Sinfield who had the last word, knocking over a penalty with the final kick of the game to round out a superb individual performance.