Leeds 36-38 Hull KR: McGuire stars against former club
By Sky Sports Rugby League
Last Updated: 01/09/18 6:04pm
Former Leeds favourite Danny McGuire revelled in his return to Headingley to help Hull KR to a 38-36 victory in a 13-try feast.
The lead changed hands five times before Rovers finally secured their second victory of the Super 8s Qualifiers to take a significant step towards preserving their Super League status.
McGuire, one of five former Leeds players in the visitors' ranks, was the main architect but the scoring was led by former Toronto and Leigh winger Craig Hall, who grabbed a hat-trick of tries, taking his tally to seven in just four appearances of his second spell with the club, and kicked five goals for a personal 22-point haul.
New Zealand-born forward Nathaniel Peteru scored his first try for Leeds - and only the second of his career - but the Rhinos' defeat leaves them with work to do if they are to avoid the dreaded Million Pound Game.
Leeds made the perfect start, with centre Joel Moon scoring his sixth try of the qualifiers after only three minutes but the game underwent a series of momentum swings and Rovers surged into a 14-4 lead with three tries in 14 minutes.
They drew level when Hall pounced on a wayward pass inside his own 20-metre area by his opposite number Luke Briscoe.
Full-back Adam Quinlan then regathered the ball from Chris Atkin's clever kick over the Rhinos defence to put his side in front and they added a third on 24 minutes when centre Ben Crooks was put into a gap by hooker Shaun Lunt and another Leeds old boy, Robbie Mulhern, held off Tom Briscoe to touch down.
Hall took over the goalkicking after Danny Tickle had failed with his first two attempts and made it 14-4 before also kicking a penalty.
Tom Briscoe sparked Leeds' fightback, cutting a swathe through the visitors' defence after gathering a stray pass, and scrum-half Richie Myler also went over after Liam Sutcliffe had intercepted McGuire's attacking pass to set up the position.
That gave the champions the confidence to throw the ball around and their adventurous approach paid handsome dividends on the stroke of half-time when Peteru finished off a glorious move for his first try for the club.
Sutcliffe kicked his third conversion to make it 22-16 and put two scores between the teams with a penalty early in the second half.
It was then McGuire's turn to take centre stage as the Robins struck with two tries in three minutes to retake the lead.
A cut-out pass from the veteran half-back created a second try for Hall, who quickly completed his hat-trick after Leeds failed to defuse a high kick to the line from McGuire.
Hall took his goal tally to three from four to put his side 26-24 in front, but the lead changed hands for a fourth time when Leeds substitute Jordan Thompson created a try for hooker Matt Parcell.
When makeshift centre Stevie Ward got Tom Briscoe over for his second try, Sutcliffe put 10 points between the teams for the first time.
But the scoring frenzy continued when Quinlan broke through the heart of the Leeds defence to get Atkin over for a try and Rovers regained the lead on 67 minutes when centre Junior Vaivai rolled out of a three-man tackle to plant the ball on the line.
McGuire almost rounded off the scoring in the final minute when he lost the ball going for the line, but he had already played his part in a famous victory.
