Sheffield in 11-try romp as Hornets crushed

Along with the quintet of tries for Laulu-Togagae there were also scores for Kyle Briggs, Etu Uaisele and two for Matt Stringer and Menzie Yere.

Dominic Brambini managed to convert on seven times out of the possible 11.

This convincing result over relegated Rochdale means that Mark Aston’s men finish fifth in the Kingstone Press Championship.

It was in fact Rochdale who burst out of the traps with two early tries from Wayne English and Paul Crook to take a 10-0 lead by the seventh minute.

But from there on in the Eagles were totally rampant. First it was Yere who got Sheffield on the comeback trail when he went over after a good move from Briggs.

Laulu-Togagae then got his first score before Briggs steamrolled through the middle to touch down under the sticks to send the Eagles 10-16 in front.

The Spotland floodgates opened after the half hour mark as Laulu-Togagae supplied some mouth-watering rugby to set up Uaisele to score and then the Samoan rounded off a superb hat-trick before half-time.

Relegated Hornets tried to save face in the second half, which started well with a try from James Dandy but ultimately the Eagles proved too strong.

Stringer scored the South Yorkshire clubs first try of the second half in the 66th minute powering over the line.

The Laulu-Togagae show was back in full flow in the last ten minutes as he set up Yere to bag his brace and then Laulu-Togagae went on himself to score two more electric tries as the Hornets hung their heads.

Rochdale: Sheridan, English, Clare, Llewellyn, Robinson, Crook, Millard, Walker, Tilley, Gilchrist, Baines, Trumper, J. Greenwood. Substitutes: Dandy, J. Case, Suffolk, McClurg.

Sheffield: Lauulu-Togagae, Turner, Yere, Uaisele, Taulapapa, Briggs, Brambani, Green, Henderson, Stringer, Knowles, Straughier, Walker. Substitutes: Davey, Garside, Battye, Lillycrop.

Referee: G Hewer (RFL).

Kingstone Press Championship play-offs: Leigh (1st) v Doncaster (4th), Featherstone (2nd) v Halifax (3rd), Sheffield (5th) v Batley (8th), Dewsbury (6th) v Workington (7th)

Championship One play-offs: Hunslet (2nd) v Oldham (3rd) – Friday September 12 (8.00pm), Gateshead (4th) v Hemel Stags (5th). *York City Knights (1st) have a bye. All fixtures next weekend, dates/kick-offs TBC.