Leeds Rhinos boss Rohan Smith leaps to Harry Newman's defence amid 'selfish' accusations

The Rhinos raced into a 14-0 lead to take a firm grip on the last-16 tie but had no answer to Wigan as Matt Peet's men set about righting the wrongs of last week's Super League collapse against Leeds at the DW Stadium.

The Warriors turned the game on its head to take an 18-14 advantage into the dying minutes and were left sweating over the outcome following a break by Newman.

But, having scored earlier after ignoring support on each shoulder, the 23-year-old pushed his luck and was tackled by Bevan French with Richie Myler a pass away from potentially sending Leeds through to the quarter-finals.

Before the game, Rhinos legend and BBC pundit Jamie Peacock accused Newman of having a "selfish side to him".

The youngster has faced fierce criticism since the cup tie but Smith refused to pin the blame on one player.

Asked what he would say to Newman, Smith replied: “Keep your head up.

“Keep moving forward. It is easy to sit in the grandstand and say should’ve, would’ve, could’ve, but it's all happening so fast.

“Bevan French is an expert at interrupting those sort of situations, has been his whole life. It is never down to one play in a game.”

Leeds have now fallen at the first hurdle three times in the Challenge Cup since lifting the trophy in 2020.

Smith felt there was little to separate the competition's two most successful clubs.

“I thought it was a terrific contest,” he said.

“It was a pretty open game, great conditions for it, both teams attacked it and it could have gone either way and very nearly did.

“It was a good game. As a supporter you can be disappointed with the result but it was a good game of footy, two good teams competing for the first step of a big prize.

“I am proud of the effort of our players. Wigan executed some plays really nicely and in the end that was the difference.”