Leeds Rhinos 16 Wigan Warriros 20: Injury-hit Rhinos see Magic run ended by Warriors

Depleted Leeds Rhinos came so close to ending Wigan’s 10-match winning run last night in a superb contest which more than lived up to its billing as the match of Magic Weekend.

But they were cruelly denied when a brilliantly-crafted effort from Danny McGuire was disallowed by video referee Ian Smith just eight minutes from time.

By the letter of the law, the official got it right as the England scrum-half had run behind his own player before supporting Joel Moon’s electric break to score.

Smith, of course, was only in the seat after being drafted in yesterday afternoon when Ganson was dropped following his costly blunder when overseeing the Hull derby the previous evening.

You have to wonder if he would have come up with a different decision here; it was debatable whether Leeds’ Chris Clarkson truly obstructed the Wigan defender and plenty of such ‘tries’ have been awarded in the past.

But that is now all irrelevant. Leeds’ record as the only team to have a 100 per cent record at Magic Weekend has gone and, in the process, they have lost three successive games.

The last team to beat Wigan back in March, they never actually led last night, but with Kylie Leuluai so dominating up front and Kallum Watkins offering a constant threat, they were always in a thoroughly-bruising and physical encounter.

Their opponents just had the edge, however, and were a little more assured when it came to the major plays.

Coach Brian McDermott described Smith’s decision as “very anal” but refused to use it as a reason for the defeat.

“Firstly, the quality of the game was outstanding,” he said.

“You have to give Wigan credit; they probably showed more composure with the ball and in attack near their try-line I don’t think we challenged them enough.

“But I’m immensely proud to be involved with this group of men.

“We had so many missing and there was some tough calls, some harsh ones.

“When you look at that decision, I don’t want to use it as a reason for us losing.

“But I just thought it was a very anal decision; nobody was obstructed, it didn’t have an affect on the play and whoever pressed the button understands the rules, but doesn’t understand the game.

“I do think the decision needs to be looked at and addressed. You could have a debate on that for a long while.”

Sam Tomkins got Wigan off to a flying start with a try in the eighth minute after his side had forced two early drop-outs.

Iain Thornley, the ex-Leeds Carnegie centre, furnished the England superstar with a brilliant off-load close to the Rhinos line and he duly scorched in to score for the 11th successive game.

The champions quickly responded, however, when Kevin Sinfield kicked a 13th-minute penalty after he was hit by an ugly late challenge from England colleague Michael McIlorum.

Sinfield was soon involved again when he put Zak Hardaker into a little space and supported back on the inside to secure Leeds’ first try.

He successfully struck the conversion only to see Ryan Bailey make a blunder in the re-start set, getting himself in a real tangle while trying to play the ball.

From there, Tomkins chimed into the line and created the room for Pat Richards to easily splinter Leeds out on the left.

The former Man of Steel curled in the touchline conversion and added another two points when, frustratingly, Jamie Jones-Buchanan was penalised for striding off the mark in front of the posts.

Watkins scored in the eighth consecutive game for Leeds with a truly astonishing try.

There seemed little on after Rob Burrow had arced crossfield for Clarkson to find the England centre.

But the merest of steps just got him on the outside of Thornley before, under further pressure from Richards, he somehow twisted and somehow managed to score one-handed right in the corner.

However, Bailey foolishly gave away a penalty for Richards to kick by shoving a Wigan player in backplay and then Josh Charnley crossed with just one second remaining.

Sinfield tried an ambitious chip just 30m from his own line which was charged down and Matty Smith quickly fed the England winger who scampered to the corner.

Sam Powell also had an effort chalked off for obstruction early in the second half before Thornley came up with a brilliant tackle to deny Watkins.

Leeds responded when Joe Vickery, the Australian wing who has not had the easiest of times since joining last winter, finally got a deserved first try for the club on 52 minutes after both Hardaker and Watkins had palmed on quick passes.

Sinfield could not convert but McGuire thought he had given his captain chance to win it with the breathtaking move that saw him finally dummy past Tomkins.

But Smith made his ruling and Leeds, in their desperation, blew a couple more positions to strike.

Leeds Rhinos: Hardaker, Vickery, Watkins, Moon, Hall, McGuire, Sinfield, Leuluai, Burrow, Bailey, Jones-Buchanan, Clarkson, Sutcliffe. Substitutes: McShane, Kirke, Achurch, Singleton.

Wigan Warriors: S. Tomkins, Charnley, Goulding, Thornley, Richards, Powell, Smith, Flower, McIlorum, Mossop, Hansen, Farrell,

O’Loughlin. Substitutes: Lauaki, Tuson, L. Tomkins, Crosby.

Referee: R Silverwood (RFL).