Daniel Zealey reviews the round one fixture between Leeds Rhinos and Hull FC. Here’s how the game went.
MATCH TIMELINE
| Minute | Scoring Play | Score |
| 15th | Goal Marc Sneyd (Hull FC) | Leedsย 0-2 Hull FC |
| 19th | Try Carlos Tuimavave (Hull FC) | Leeds 0-6 Hull FC |
| 31st | Try Ratu Naulago (Hull FC) | Leeds 0-10 Hull FC |
| 34th | Try Josh Bowden (Hull FC) | Leeds 0-14 Hull FC |
| 35th | Goal Marc Sneyd (Hull FC) | Leeds 0-16 Hull FC |
| 46th | Goal Marc Sneyd (Hull FC) | Leeds 0-18 Hull FC |
| 50th | Goal Marc Sneyd (Hull FC) | Leeds 0-20 Hull FC |
| 57th | Try Ratu Naulago (Hull FC) | Leeds 0-24 Hull FC |
| 63rd | Try Ash Handley (Leeds Rhinos) | Leeds 4-24 Hull FC |
| 78th | Try Jamie Shaul (Hull FC) | Leeds 4-28 Hull FC |
| 79th | Goal Marc Sneyd (Hull FC) | Leeds 4-30 Hull FC |
MATCH SUMMARY
Hull made the trip to West Yorkshire looking to record back to back victories at Headingley for the first time in 33 years.
Leeds threatened to score first through Ash Handley inside three minutes, however, Ratu Naulago and Jake Connor stopped the winger short. But, Hull opened the scoring through a Marc Sneyd penalty 15 minutes into the match.
The lead was extended whenย Naulago returned a kick with intent and got past the Leeds defence, before offloading to Carlos Tuimavave who touched down for the Black and Whites.
Lee Radford’s side continued their dominance when Naulago turned scorer. Hull kept the ball alive just inside their own half through Shaul, who, offloaded to Connor and Naulago was sent over in the corner. Sneyd failed to convert giving Hull a ten-point lead after half an hour.
Connor was involved in Hull extending their lead before half time. His short pass sent Andre Savellio through the lead defence, he offloaded to Josh Bowen who dived over next to the sticks. Sneyd converted to give the Black and Whites a 16-0 lead at the interval.
With conditions getting worse, Hull opted for goal on two occasions which Sneyd converted to give them a 20-0 lead with under half an hour to go.
Theย East Yorkshire outfit continued their expansive rugby when spreading the ball out to the right which created an overlap, allowing Naulago to dive over for his second of the afternoon.
The Rhinos hit back with a try direct from a scrum. The ball was moved to their left edge where Ash Handley was able to stroll in for their first try of their 2020 season.
Handley thought he had a second soon after. Referee Ben Thaler sent the decision up as a try, but video referee Robert Hicks deemed Naulago had knocked the Leeds man into touch.
However, that was all Leeds could register and in the final minutes Hull full-back Jamie Shaul rounded off the scoring.ย Josh Jones passed to Savelio, who was able to offload to Shaul despite being tackled by two defenders and Shaul barged over the line.
Sneyd converted to round off a 30-4 win. Which means it is Hull biggest win at Headingley in 36 years.
GAME HIGHLIGHT
With all the new signings, Hull came into this season with many people expecting big things from them. On the opening day, they delivered at a place which they historically have struggled as a club.
The Tuimavave try really set the tone. The way Naulago received the kick and was looking to break away showed how Hull want to attack more than previous years. Throughout the full 80 they looked to offload, which hasn’t been seen by a Hull side too frequently.
In defence, they defended in numbers. Often they looked to push the Leeds attackers into touch and all the key Leeds players were fairly quite including new signing Luke Gale.
THE RESULT
Leeds Rhinos 4
Tries: Handley
Hull FC 30
Tries: Tuimavae, Naulago 2, Bowden, Shaul
Goals: Sneyd 5
SQUADS
Leeds: Walker, Handley, Hurrell, Sutcliffe, Newman, Lui, Gale, Prior, Dwyer, Oledzki, Ward, Martin, Smith
Interchanges: Myler, Donaldson, Mellor, Cuthbertson
Hull FC: Shaul, Faraimo, Tuimavave, Griffin, Naulago, Connor, Sneyd, Taylor, Johnstone, Sao, Jones, Ma’u, Ellis.
Interchanges: Lane, Satae, Savelio, Bowden
