SHEFFIELD EAGLES 0 LEEDS RHINOS 104
KEITH MCGHIE, Steel City Stadium, Saturday
EBONY STEAD claimed five tries as records tumbled with Leeds chalking up the biggest win in their history.
The 104-0 scoreline obliterated their previous best of 92-0 against Leigh in 2022, while the referee curtailed the match at the 60-minute mark when the injury-devastated Eagles went down to just nine players.
The difference between the top two tiers of the women’s game has never been more evident as, even before the hosts began being decimated, Leeds were scoring at almost two points a minute.
Their astonishing 19-try display completes their clean sweep of the group and ensures a quarter-final spot.
The Rhinos provided no fewer than ten different try scorers, with Ruby Walker touching down twice and adding eleven goals.
They were ahead within a minute through the first of Stead’s quintet. Walker forced her way over, Izzy Northrop and Bethan Dainton added long-range tries and Shannon Lacey also scored for 30-0 after 13 minutes.
Mel Howard joined the scoresheet before Walker, Lacey and Stead each ran in their second tries to bring up the half-century with merely 24 minutes played.
Northrop completed her hat-trick by the half-hour mark, with Boyd and Stead (twice) increasing the score further by the half-time hooter.
The increasingly thin Sheffield line conceded five more scores after the break as Howard finished with a brace of tries and three goals, while Stead, Tally Bryer, Liv Whitehead and finally Evie Cousins dotted down.
EAGLES: 1 Abbi Simpson, 2 Megan Holocuk, 3 Georgia Taylor, 4 Claire Fisher, 5 Tori Thomas, 6 Saskia Lewis, 7 Lucy Eastwood, 8 Capucina Augar, 15 Rachel Eastwood, 10 Simone Saunders, 11 Phoebe Evans, 12 Maddison Rainey, 13 Haley Swann. Subs (all used): 9 Lauren Ingram, 20 Amy Dowling, 16 Alisha Clayton, 17 Beth Arnold
RHINOS: 2 Ebony Stead, 5 Sophie Nuttall, 4 Evie Cousins, 22 Connie Boyd, 18 Liv Whitehead, 6 Mel Howard, 7 Ruby Walker, 10 Izzy Northrop, 14 Ruby Bruce, 16 Kaiya Glynn, 11 Shannon Lacey, 12 Lucy Murray, 13 Bethan Dainton. Subs (all used): 9 Keara Bennett, 25 Lacey Owen, 17 Jenna Greening, 24 Tally Bryer
Tries: Stead (1, 24, 37, 40, 42), Walker (4, 18), Northrop (7, 28, 30), Dainton (10), Lacey (13, 21), Howard (16, 58), Boyd (34), Bryer (48), Whitehead (53), Cousins (60); Goals: Walker 11/13, Howard 3/6
SCORING SEQUENCE: 0-6, 0-12, 0-18, 0-24, 0-30, 0-34, 0-40, 0-46, 0-52, 0-58, 0-64, 0-68, 0-74, 0-80; 0-84, 0-88, 0-94, 0- 98, 0-104
Half-time: 0-80
