Report - Leeds 42-26 Warrington

The Wolves produced a spirited display which included a hat-trick from wing Henry Fa’afili, but their defensive frailties were again brutally exposed by the rampant Rhinos.

This was Warrington’s seventh defeat in eight engage Super League encounters but, despite being beaten once again, Paul Cullen’s men deserved some credit for a performance which saw them run in five tries.

Indeed, they made a big contribution to an absorbing encounter and opened the scoring through Fa’afili in the third minute.

The New Zealander collected a pass from Ben Westwood and produced a delightful dummy which split Danny McGuire and Keith Senior and allowed him to scamper clear for a fine individual score.

Inspirational Wolves skipper Lee Briers quickly exerted his authority on proceedings with a series of probing kicks, but Leeds began to build up a head of steam.

And their first score arrived in the 15th minute when Rob Burrow combined with McGuire to send Senior over the line for his first try.

Three minutes later the Rhinos breached Warrington’s line again as a piece of magic from McGuire outfoxed two opponents and allowed Webb to scamper clear for his 14th try of an increasingly productive season.

But the visitors continued to probe and Jon Clarke’s long kick downfield was nudged forward and grounded by 19-year-old prospect Kevin Penny.

The score was awarded after a review from video referee Ian Smith, but Warrington’s line soon began to lead a charmed life.

Indeed, it came as no surprise when Senior barged his way over on the half-hour mark to complete his brace, again after Smith was consulted.

McGuire looked to have all but secured victory for Leeds four minutes before the break when he broke clear for his side’s fourth try - but Fa’afili’s second on the stroke of half-time gave Warrington a perfect tonic.

Yet it was Leeds who began the brighter after the restart and a simple sequence of passing saw Burrow and McGuire work the ball out wide to Clinton Toopi, who grounded in the right corner.

Skipper Kevin Sinfield kicked his fifth goal from as many attempts and Leeds thought they had their sixth score when replacement Carl Ablett hacked forward and touched down, only to be denied by the video referee.

Shortly before the hour mark, Warrington hit back again when another clever grubber kick from Briers allowed Fa’afili to claim his hat-trick score.

Briers converted to cut the gap to 10 points but a mistake from Wolves rookie Penny allowed Webb to waltz through for his second try and academy product Ian Kirke claimed Leeds’ seventh score.

Sinfield’s flawless kicking gave him seven goals from as many attempts but Warrington had the final say when Penney’s pace took him clear and Briers converted for his third goal from five attempts.

Warrington now have to regroup and focus on a trip to Knowsley Road to face local rivals St. Helens in the Carnegie Challenge Cup Quater Finals a side the Wolves have only beaten once in over 30 matches between the two sides since 1996.