Sivo spree continues as leaders Leeds maul Hull KR

Betfred Super League

Leeds (18) 34

Tries: Hankinson, Sivo 2, Connor, Handley Goals: Connor 7

Hull KR (2) 8

Tries: Booth Goals: Martin 2

Free-scoring Maika Sivo took his tally of Super League tries to 27 for the season with two in Leeds Rhinos’ emphatic 34-8 victory against champions Hull KR at Headingley.

Sivo touched down either side of the break to make it 15 tries in an unbroken nine-game scoring spree from the Fiji winger as the table-topping Rhinos moved two points clear at the summit.

Chris Hankinson had gone over for Leeds’ first try of the night, while Jake Connor landed two of his three first-half penalties before Sivo went over for the first time.

Sivo then added to Rhinos’ 18-2 half-time lead against a Robins side that had Rhyse Martin in the sin-bin.

And while Noah Booth hit back with a try soon after, Connor went over for a fourth Leeds try before the hour mark before Ash Handley completed the win.

Hull KR’s crushing defeat came just three days after it was confirmed Nathan Cayless will be the man to replace all-conquering head coach Willie Peters when he leaves the Robins for National Rugby League expansion club Papua New Guinea Chiefs at the end of the season.

For Leeds, a fifth successive win was also another statement victory after they beat Warrington Wolves 34-6 in a top-of-the-table showdown a week earlier.

There were emotional pre-match scenes at Headingley for what was Leeds’ annual Motor Neurone Disease (MND) Awareness game, with tributes paid to the late Rob Burrow – the Rhinos legend who died with the disease in 2024, aged 41.

Once the game kicked off, Hull KR showed ferocious intent against the competition pacesetters, who delivered a high-profile 58-6 thrashing of the Robins in Las Vegas in March.

So intense were the opening exchanges that the Robins pair of Tom Amone and Dean Hadley left each other with bloodied faces after clashing heads.

While Amone was able to return with bandages wrapped around his face, Hadley failed his head injury assessment and will now also miss next week’s derby showdown against Hull FC at Magic Weekend.

That adds to Hull KR’s list of injury woes, which grew for this game with Joe Burgess, Sauaso Sue and Sam Luckley missing out.

After Connor traded penalties with Martin in a tense opening 30 minutes, the half-back threaded a grubber kick for Hankinson to pounce on for the game’s first try.

Sivo dotted down twice after that as Leeds quickly looked as if they would cruise to another big win against the Robins.

Booth’s try came as little consolation as Connor capped a stunning performance with a four-pointer of his own before Handley went over for a try that earned him his 500th Super League point.

Praise for ‘brave’ Leeds and ‘pride’ in beaten Robins – reaction

Leeds Rhinos head coach Brad Arthur speaking to BBC Radio Leeds:

“We pushed, right from the start of the week, about being brave – for the MND round, for Rob (Burrow) and his family. And I thought we were extremely brave tonight.

“We talked about being brave in the collision, and I thought we dominated that area. They came after us hard early and got stuck into us. We withstood it and pushed through the other side, so I was really happy with that part of our game.

“We have probably done a couple of dumb things here and there, but it makes us exciting to watch and hard to defend against – so I have to live with a little bit of it.

“I still think we have plenty left in us to improve and that was a bit of the discussion straight away after the game. But we have just got to be happy that it was a nice strong win against a very good team.”

Hull KR head coach Willie Peters told BBC Radio Humberside:

“We had to handle some adversity at the start, obviously having two front rowers coming off didn’t help. But I was happy with how we started – we started with intent and we were physical.

“It might sound weird, but I was really proud of them for large periods of that game. We were playing against the best in the comp at the moment, and for large parts we held our own.

“But when you turn the ball over – it was something like 13 or 14 errors, they had around 60-odd% possession to our 30-odd% – you are always going to be on the wrong end of the scoreboard, no matter how much you want to fight and work hard.

“It took its toll. That’s from the way they played, but also us turning the ball over didn’t help. And towards the back-end of the game we were pretty much spent.”

Leeds Rhinos: Miller, Hall, Newman, Handley, Sivo, Croft, Connor, Oledzki, Levi, Palasia, Hankinson, McDonnell, Watkins.

Interchanges: Jenkins, O’Connor, C. Smith, Holroyd, Lumb.

Hull KR: Broadbent, Davies, Hiku, Gildart, Booth, Lewis, May, Hadley, Lawton, Amone, Whitbread, Batchelor, Minchella.

Interchanges: Martin, Dezaria, Leyland, Pangai Jnr, Hampshire.

Sin-bin: Martin (40)

Referee: Chris Kendall.