Richard Agar pleased with Leeds response

Leeds coach Richard Agar was pleased with his side’s response to their opening day defeat, as they beat Hull KR 52-10.

The Rhinos suffered a humbling 30-4 home defeat to the Robins’ city rivals Hull FC a fortnight ago, and were forced to stew on that a bit longer after their round two game at Huddersfield fell foul of the weather last weekend.

Youngsters Harry Newman and Cameron Smith scored two tries apiece, while stand-in captain Luke Gale kicked 16 points.

Agar said: “I thought we responded really well.

“We had a disappointing performance in round one and had last week’s game called off but I thought the longer preparation helped us.

“From the word go we showed a very positive attitude to everything we did, particularly with the ball, and we came up with some good tries.

“To chalk up 50 points against any team is really pleasing but we’re a long way from where we want to be.

“After going 18-0 up we got too loose, we veered off script. We’d always back our players to play what they see but at the same time we’ve got to balance it out, we need to be a little bit more hard-nosed.”

With Stevie Ward missing through concussion, Rhyse Martin was due to captain the side in his absence, but the Papua New Guinea back-rower was forced to sit out after having a cyst removed from his chest.