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Tykes stride ominously into title form
Leeds Tykes 34 Coventry 0 Sam Wheeler at Headingley Carnegie
OMINOUSLY for their fellow title contenders, Leeds Tykes have started to win convincingly while giving the impression that they are nowhere near their potential.
The Tykes won this at a canter. They were utterly dominant, never came close to conceding a point and scored five tries of their own. They could have had 10.
This was their fifth consecutive bonus-point victory, but it did not change their position in the table: it was a weekend of water-treading in the upper echelons of National One, with all of the top four earning five points, and Leeds remain second, behind the Cornish Pirates on points difference.
It is difficult to judge the leading sides on their performances at home against mid-table sides, and we will know more about the Tykes' promotion credentials after they have visited the Pirates and Rotherham next month.
Nevertheless, Coventry should not be pushovers. They are a full-time outfit, although their 900,000 budget does not appear to have been invested particularly wisely. Leeds simply crushed them up front.
The scrum was such a mismatch, with Colin Noon and Mike MacDonald laying waste to the Coventry front-row, that it almost made a virtue of a slew of knock-ons from the Tykes.
The home side's back-row runners were rampant. Jon Dunbar has been a revelation in recent weeks. He has added a yard of pace and every time he set off on a run, he left a stream of would-be tacklers in his wake. Rhys Oakley carried powerfully, and Mark Lock was as ubiquitous as one would want an open-side to be. With Stuart Hooper back to direct operations, every maul surged forward. MacDonald scored from one early on.
Leeds, though, kept making handling errors. MacDonald and Rhys Oakley both knocked-on with the line at their mercy. A five-yard scrum ceded possession carelessly. Darren Edwards tapped a penalty, but a reverse-pass confused its recipient.
After 33 minutes, it was still only 10-0. Then, from a lineout, the hosts sent the ball left, right and left again, sucking in the Coventry defence until an enormous overlap had materialised. MacDonald was over for his second.
As a contest, it was game over. The visitors had a brief spell of possession at the start of the second half but Leeds held them at arm's length and a simple three-quarter move sent Richard Welding over for the Tykes' third try.
Despite the mistakes, there was plenty of action in the home midfield. Richard Vasey, nervy on his debut here six weeks ago, is emerging as an assured stand-off, with an accurate left boot. Jonny Hepworth is a lively No 12 who can switch to stand-off if required and Tom Rock outside him scored two more tries yesterday to take his tally to six in three games. Unlike some of their rivals, there is real depth to Leeds's squad. There are not many players they cannot afford to lose – and they have already lost three of their first-choice three-quarter line and two other centres to injury.
Director of rugby Stuart Lancaster still has the option of bringing on Andy Tuilagi to add fearsomely direct running; the Samoan, on loan from Leicester, burst through and sent in Rock for his second. Rock's first had come when he dummied to another huge overlap and cut in to the posts.
With 18 minutes remaining and the score at 34-0, the floodgates might have opened. Coventry are in turmoil, having suspended their coach Mike Umaga – formerly of Rotherham – but their players stuck to the task. And Leeds had no real appetite for a slaughter.
Lancaster, who praised Coventry's tenacity, was delighted with his side's efforts.
"We were dominant," he said. "It was a good performance across the board. We were disappointed with our defence last week and we set some goals about improving that, and we achieved them.
"In the first half, we were frustrated with bits of our attacking game. But after the break, we kept our patience and our composure."
When they manage to stop dropping the ball, they will be an awkward proposition.
Leeds: Hinton: Welding, T Rock, Hepworth, Holtby; Vasey (Tuilagi 51), Edwards (Rauluni 60); MacDonald (Paul 60), Rawlinson (Parkes 63), Noon (Cusack 40); Hooper, Myall (Bouza 54); Dunbar (Bryan 60), Lock, Oakley.
Coventry: Russell; Takarangi, Sanders (Dixon 62), Geraghty (Binham 39), K Johnson (Toft 65); Dorrian, Walls (James 60); Wyn-Davies (Treston 40), Protherough (Friswell 52), Brits; Campton (Tonkin 8), Nimmo; T Johnson, O'Connor, Rheeders.
Referee: Dale Newitt
Scorers
Leeds: Tries: MacDonald 2, Welding, Rock 2; cons: Hinton 3; pen: Hinton.
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Saturday 26 May 2012
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