EUPHORIC scenes swept round Hull Ionians’ ground on Saturday as Lewis Minikin dashed over to score Yorkshire’s fourth try and send the White Rose to Twickenham for the first time in 16 years.

The outside centre put in a titanic shift, setting up two tries before getting on the scoresheet himself as Yorkshire claimed the Thwaites Rosebowl back from their historic rivals. They will join Yorkshire’s women side in heading down to south-west London for the County Championship finals in a fortnight.

Yorkshire coach Dan Scarbrough was delighted after seeing his side get their second win in a row to top Division 1’s Northern Pool.

The Former England international said: “This is something we’ve been working towards for years, I’ve personality been part of the process for three years. We really are over the moon. It was a huge team performance, we talked a lot before the game about having a go and really winning the game, not just being in it, and that’s exactly what we did.

Lewis Minikin tormented Lancashire as Yorkshire reached Twickenham for the first time in 16 years (Picture: Richard Bown)

“It was relentless. Lancashire gave us a tough time but we dug deep and pulled through.”

Lancashire, sitting at the top of the table on points difference before kick-off, struck first after a Yorkshire high tackle, with Fylde fly-half Greg Smith scoring off the tee from 25 metres out.

The hosts countered quickly, and a smart overlap set up Hull wing Pete Hudson who dashed over to score on the left. Yorkshire second-row George Hedgley was sin-binned for repeat offences in the 23rd minute, but this seemed to spur on the hosts as they hit a two-try purple patch while being a man down.

Some quick interplay off a scrum saw Minikin break through on the left, and a deceptively late offload set up Hudson for his second.

Three minutes later and Minikin again caused chaos in the Red Rose ranks, opening up Otley’s Sam Taylor to slide over on the right. A smart tap-and-go by Sedgley Park’s Matt Sturgess set up Smith to run over just after half-time, and Lancashire’s talisman scored off the tee on the hour mark.

But Yorkshire’s forwards won the territory battle, and an Elliot Fisher chip through fell perfectly for Minikin to dot down between the sticks.

With sunshine finally peering through the clouds over Brantingham Park, Lancashire couldn’t breach the white-shirted line, and Yorkshire captain Joe Makin’s intercept effectively sealed a memorable win.

Yorkshire RU win Roses battle with Lancashire to earn Twickenham trip