Ford dazzles in Leeds triumph

Against Moseley, the on-loan Leicester player was moved to his more accustomed position of fly-half and pulled the strings in a devastating attacking display that saw the visitors run in three tries in each half.

Whilst Ford’s father Mike, the former England defence coach who has been working with Leeds since his departure from Twickenham in the wake of the World Cup, will not have been pleased that Carnegie conceded 32 points, the individual lapses on defence did not take away from a comprehensive performance.

Leeds struck inside three minutes when back-row Chris Walker made the most of an earlier Ford break. Ford then set up another loan signing, Sale centre Jordan Davies, before fellow loanee Kane Palma-Newport crashed over. Moseley chipped away with scrum-half Richard De La Harpe crossing on the stroke of half-time.

Leeds sealed victory with tries from Palma-Newport, Ford and Jacob Rowan.

Moseley: Hughes, Carter (Gillick, 79), King (MacBurnie, 72), Reay, Hunt, Davies, De La Harpe (Glynn, 55), Voisey (Quigley, 53), Caves (Quigley, 60), O’Donnell (Warren, 41), Spivey, Stott, Maltman (Lowcock, 76), Ellery, Mason (Thomas, 79).

Leeds Carnegie: Bell, Stephenson, Thornley (J Ford, 72), Davies, Lucock, G Ford, Cliff, MacDonald (Denman, 72), Nilsen (Freer, 59), Palma-Newport (Mustafa, 59), Hohneck, Denton, Burrows, Walker, (Beck, 56), Rowan. Unused: Rieder, Shaw

Referee: S Davey.

Rotherham Titans 20 London Welsh 21

After consecutive defeats, success in Saturday’s game against Moseley is essential for Rotherham, who threw away a 20-10 lead at half-time and consequently lost their unbeaten record in the league at Clifton Lane.

With powerful No 8 Semisi Taluava returning from injury against Moseley, Rotherham’s forwards are unlikely to be outplayed again as they were by London Welsh during a second half surprisingly dictated by the visitors.

Before Rotherham’s authority collapsed, they established a match-winning position with a try from prop Rob O’Donnell and the award of a penalty try.

In between these scores, a blunder by Rotherham’s top try scorer, forward Robin Copeland, proved to be extremely costly.

The Irishman, having smashed through the opposition’s defence, knocked on as he was about to score.

Collectively, the pack failed badly after the interval; London Welsh’s forwards, not least Ed Jackson, outfought Rotherham’s.

Welsh starved Rotherham of any ball and added a second try. With full-back Alex Davies kicking two penalties, Welsh’s unexpected recovery, against the wind, transformed the contest.

Rotherham Titans: Foden, Homan (Nonu 60), McCall, Hodgson, Monahan, Law, Williams, Kilbane (Cahill 61), Stagg (Baines 49), O’Donnell, Maddison, Dickinson, Kirwan (Griffiths 70), Dougall, Copeland.

London Welsh: Davies, Gibson (Hurrell 65), Tonga’uiha, J Lewis, Ajuwa, Ross, R Lewis, French, Nelson, Pittman, Corker, Purdy, Beach, Denbee, Jackson.

Referee: M Tutty.