Leeds Rhinos 39 Wigan Warriors 28: Sinfield inspires classy team performance

FOR all that rugby league is irrevocably a team sport, if your marque players fail to shine when it matters most in the grandest affairs, then even the finest sides are likely to struggle.

A Challenge Cup semi-final is certainly one of those occasions and, thankfully for Leeds Rhinos, their eminent stars rose to the occasion on Saturday, not least captain Kevin Sinfield, who reminded everyone just how valuable a precision kicking ability truly is in the modern game.

That asset, which terrorised overwhelming favourites Wigan in this brilliantly surreal fixture, was pivotal in guiding the West Yorkshire club to a third successive Wembley final where they will bid again to lift the prestigious trophy for the first time since 1999.

Sinfield was followed closely by Ryan Hall, who again underlined why he is the world’s greatest winger; the manner in which he bullied Wigan’s Josh Charnley here to score two tries and use his hulking frame to continually stretch out of tackles one-handed was akin to the great Australian Greg Inglis.

In comparison, their England team-mates and Wigan’s regular talismen Sam Tomkins and Sean O’Loughlin were, for crucial spells, unrecognisable from the players who had been keystones in a side that had won a dozen of their previous 13 games to stand alone at the top of Super League.

Given the Challenge Cup holders were already without a similarly influential Thomas Leuluai due to injury, Leeds – whose pack was magnificent in nullifying their notoriously physical counterparts – were simply offered further encouragement they never needed.

The Super League champions had fortune along the way given Zak Hardaker’s tries either side of the break ought to have been ruled out for forward passes.

However, considering the refereeing faux pas that contributed to their loss to Wigan at Wembley last August – a fifth final defeat this century – there can be no complaints.

And, regardless, Ben Thaler also missed Liam Farrell’s awful forward pass which bizarrely saw Ben Flower hack on to score for Wigan just before half-time, a sign of the frenzied nature of this memorable semi-final.

Masterful Leeds were 30-20 ahead at the interval, Wigan having only once conceded that amount of points in coach Shaun Wane’s reign, let alone in one half of football.

But, in the six weeks since Brian McDermott’s side were vanquished 50-8 at home by the Warriors, they had secured four consecutive wins to rise from ninth to fifth and suggest this sort of performance was lurking.

That night at Headingley, the dazzling Tomkins was almost unplayable but for the first seven minutes at the Galpharm the England full-back looked like the goofy schoolboy always last to be picked in the yard.

He was struggling from the off as he tried to trace a spiralling Sinfield ‘bomb’ and only managed to stretch and fumble for Hall to pounce.

In the following set, he inexplicably let Sinfield’s 40/20 roll into touch from which position Kallum Watkins sucked in both George Carmont and the laughable Anthony Gelling like a giant Hoover to provide Ben Jones-Bishop with the first of his brace.

When Ryan Bailey nimbly swatted possession away from Charnley on the zero tackle – another uncharacteristic Wigan error – Jamie Peacock continued his knack of producing smart offloads in Challenge Cup semi-finals to put Hardaker over and leave jubilant Leeds 16-0 up inside just 11 minutes.

Admittedly, Tomkins did recover sufficiently to produce some of his sparking best, not least a brilliant evading run from deep inside his own half which set up position for Carmont’s response.

When Gareth Hock added a second immediately afterwards with a coruscating 60m break following some more familiar Wigan cohesion, you would have been forgiven for thinking Leeds would wilt.

But Tomkins’s early dark spell was enough to leave his bewildered colleagues feeling distinctly mortal even more so when O’Loughlin, usually so unflappable, dropped possession to allow Danny McGuire to step and loop a pass for Hall to apply another class finish.

Bailey then stretched out of Tomkins’ and Harrison Hansen’s tackle close to the line to score and when struggling O’Loughlin missed a tackle on Rob Burrow, the little hooker sprinted clear to apply yet more pressure.

Sinfield’s clever grubber saw Tomkins caught behind his own line and from there the Leeds captain delivered a pinpoint crossfield kick for Jones-Bishop to beat Gelling once more.

Wigan responded through Flower and Tomkins – who finished with three conversions – added a penalty on the hooter.

Hardaker and O’Loughlin traded tries in the third quarter before, after another wayward pass by Brett Finch, Sinfield dropped a goal to make it 37-24.

That still did not leave McDermott settled, the coach going ballistic when Burrow made another searing break but chose the toughest option in finding Hall, who was just nudged into touch by Charnley when other support was better placed.

Indeed, Charnley crossed soon after but Sinfield, fittingly, finished things off with a late penalty to add to his four conversions.

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Leeds Rhinos: Hardaker; Jones-Bishop, Watkins, Ablett, Hall; Sinfield, McGuire; Leuluai, Burrow, Peacock, Jones-Buchanan, Delaney, Bailey. Substitutes: Kirke, Griffin, Ward, Lunt.

Wigan Warriors: Tomkins; Charnley, Goulding, Carmont, Gelling; O’Loughlin, Finch; Lima, McIlorum, Mossop, Hansen, Hock, Tuson. Substitutes: Farrell, Lauaki, Flower, Hughes.

Referee: B Thaler (Wakefield).