Leeds Rhinos triumphed 20-16 against St Helens thanks to Sophie Robinson's golden-point try in the Women's Super League semi-final; the Rhinos will face York Valkyrie, who fought back to beat Wigan Warriors 22-6, in a rerun of last year's final on Sunday October 8
Saturday 23 September 2023 20:44, UK
Leeds Rhinos saw off St Helens with a dramatic golden-point try to set up a rematch against York Valkyrie in next month's Women's Super League Grand Final.
The Rhinos, who triumphed 12-4 in last year's final against York, looked set to miss out after trailing St Helens by 10 points early in the second half.
But the defending champions fought back with tries by Caitlin Beevers and Lucy Murray to make it 16-16 at full-time before Sophie Robinson's second score of the evening settled a gripping match on golden point.
The teams traded penalties in the opening 20 minutes at Totally Wicked Stadium, with Ruby Enright responding to a successful kick from St Helens' Amy Taylor.
But Tara Jones raced over from dummy half to give Saints the lead and Taylor kicked another penalty before Robinson pulled back a try on the stroke of half-time.
Emily Rudge crossed the line to make it 16-6 after the interval, only for Leeds to score twice within five minutes as Beevers and Murray both went over.
Taylor could have won it in regulation time, but her 40-metre penalty attempt fell short and Robinson pounced on Caitlin Casey's kick for the decisive try three minutes into the extra period.
In the first semi-final, Tara-Jane Stanley scored and helped to set up two more tries as York Valkyrie came from behind to beat Wigan Warriors 22-6.
Wigan snatched an early lead when Grace Banks intercepted a stray pass by Sade Rihari and sprinted clear to score, with Beri Salihi adding the extras.
It took Valkyrie until midway through the first half to get on the scoresheet as Rihari and Stanley combined to set up Liv Whitehead for a try in the corner.
Liv Gale added York's second try just three minutes later and Stanley sliced through the Warriors' defence to make it 14-6 at half-time.
Despite missing two conversions, Stanley kicked a penalty to extend Valkyrie's advantage in the second half.
Although York had Savannah Andrade sin-binned for a high tackle, Stanley supplied the pass for Lacey Owen to seal victory with a fourth try five minutes from time.
