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Rugby League

Champions Leeds Rhinos destroy Bradford Bulls 44-2

20/03/2008

Super League champions Leeds Rhinos were in blistering form tonight as they hammered Bradford Bulls 44-2 at Headingley.

Leeds ran in eight tries, including a hat-trick from New Zealand full-back Brent Webb, to secure the win which sees them move four points clear of the table.

A weekend Bradford side, who were missing six first-team regulars, got off to a decent start as they took the lead with an early Paul Deacon penalty. But things went completely downhill from there and they failed to add to their score.

The Rhinos completely tore the Bradford defence apart, scoring five tries in the space of 17 first-half minutes.

Man-of-the-match Jamie Jones-Buchanan was the first try-scorer as he got on the end off a clever Matt Diskin grubber kick which fell kindly for him. Skipper Kevin Sinfield failed to add the conversion, but did set up Webb for the second try and then added the extras.

Jones-Buchanan then scored the best try of the match as he took a quick tap-kick from almost underneath his posts and went on a mazy run right to the Bulls try-line, where he set up Lee Smith for the try.

Missed tackles and poor passes from Bradford cost them dearly. Deacon was to blame for the next try as his stray pass fell to Gareth Ellis who ran almost 50 yards before offloading the ball to Scott Donald for the try.

New Zealand star Webb grabbed his second try on the stroke off half-time after more good work from Ellis.

Things didn't get much better for a deflated Bulls side in the second-half as they conceded a further three tries as Donald, Rob Borrow, and Webb scored the tries for Leeds.