Patience and rotation key to sparking a Leeds revival

Leeds sit bottom of the embryonic table after two straight defeats, the latest coming last Saturday when they threw away victory at Gloucester in the last few seconds.

Leeds demonstrated their ability to bounce back from a far more troubling scenario last season and with that experience in mind the South Afrrican-born club captain says no-one at Headingley Carnegie is reaching for the panic button.

"We are playing well, it's not like we're on the defensive for 80 minutes or kicking the ball away," said lock Wentzel.

"We are confident enough to play our own game and stick to our game plan.

"We need to be patient and as a squad we have got that patience.

"Saracens at home on Sunday is the perfect opportunity to get that first win.

"There's no sense of panic at all and we're not down in the dumps.

"We were more down after the Bath game because we gave them too many points, but at Gloucester it was a great performance against a team with a very good home record.

"We had the game wrapped up with two minutes to go but we gave it away, missed tackles and lost the game. It's not a team problem, it's more a case of individuals need to step up and make the tackles."

Wentzel's confidence in Leeds' ability to turn their fortunes around stems from the coaching duo's policy of squad rotation.

Andy Key and Neil Back brought in 11 players over the summer and already in the first two games have handed debuts to eight of those.

They made five changes from the Bath game and with Ceiron Thomas, Lachlan Mackay and Juan Gomez hoping to shake off injuries to be in contention for the Saracens game, and other players banging on the door for selection, every member of the squad knows they have to be on their toes at all times.

"The boys are really positive and the fact that the squad is so much stronger and more competitive means that people can't afford to come into training with a sad look on their face," said Wentzel.

"And that, in a way, makes my job easier.

"The new guys have come in and brought a heck of a lot of experience and with the team selection not being set in stone we all know there will be changes from week to week.

"It's going to be horses for courses every week so everyone has to stay on their toes and give their all in training."

Rotherham fly-half Jonny West has joined Hull on loan.