Headingley draw feels like a loss, admits Webb

Kiwi full-back Brent Webb conceded the manner in which they let an 18-point advantage slip with just 14 minutes to go was difficult to stomach after Sam Tomkins levelled with the last kick of Friday’s fascinating match.

Controlled Leeds, led brilliantly by Kevin Sinfield who overcame a sickness bug that kept him up on the eve of the game, had produced a stunning performance before their late collapse, leaving plenty of positives after an indifferent start to the season.

But Webb admitted: “In the end, it just felt like a loss.

“We were very disappointed with how we finished.

“For all we played well for 70 minutes, it’s just hard to get past what happened in that last 10.”

The West Yorkshire club had produced an aggressive defensive performance which rattled Wigan who looked set to lose consecutive games for the first time under Michael Maguire.

But Webb’s opposite number – England full-back Tomkins – stood up to instigate a thrilling response, scoring one try and creating another before coolly slotting the equalising penalty after the hooter at Headingley Carnegie.

However, the Leeds player believes their undoing was more self-inflicted rather than the champions’ class coming to the fore.

“We stopped playing,” said Webb.

“That was disappointing because we took it to them for 70 minutes then stopped playing for the last 10.

“Against teams like that, we saw what can happen.

“It’s an 80 minute game, we need to play for 80 and need to fix that back in training on Monday.

“The biggest thing is we are improving. We have to get over this, focus on the good things we did and put them into play next week. We know what we’ve got to do. We’ve just got to take this and run with it.”

Meanwhile, Rhinos coach Brian McDermott’s silence was defeaning as he tellingly deliberated long and hard before refusing to comment on Wigan prop Jeff Lima’s yellow card.

The Australian prop flung himself at the legs of Chris Clarkson, already held up in a two-man tackle, in a dangerous tactic that the champions appear to be adopting more often.

Lima is expected to be called before tomorrow’s disciplinary.