
York Knights were the toast of Amsterdam on Saturday as they beat Super League outfit Hull KR in the Netherlands. The two sides made the trip across the North Sea from Yorkshire to play a friendly at the NRCA Stadium and it was the Knights who secured the spoils, winning 26-12.
The Robins travelled with a young side to Amsterdam, with Jack Broadbent, Kelepi Tanginoa and Danny Richardson among the most senior in the fold. York, on the other hand, travelled with something close to a full strength outfit and it was the Championship side who took the lead early through a Jesse Dee try.
Louix Gorman equalised for the Robins before Levi Edwards got over for Mark Applegarth’s side. Young forward Leo Tennison barged over in the 22nd minute, though, to ensure Rovers went in at the break marginally ahead.
However, York took control in the second half of the contest and tries from Liam Harris, Myles Harrison and Connor Bailey gave the Knights a comfortable win in the end as they readied themselves for their Challenge Cup second round clash with Keighley Cougars next week.
Ultimately, the trip was about more than just a game, with events being held for fans across the city, while the Dutch rugby league association the NRLB will have taken plenty from it too, with locals being scattered throughout the 2,715 crowd at the NRCA Stadium.
That doesn’t mean KR assistant coach Danny Ward wasn’t underwhelmed with some aspects of his side’s performance, though.
“We expected a tough test and we certainly got that,” Ward said after the game in a video posted on Hull KR channels. “York played really well, they were hard to break down. Some lads really stood up I thought and had a good crack, for some others it was a good challenge for them to play at that level.
“I’m a bit disappointed overall with how many points we conceded and the ease of some of those tries. Defending our goal line they seemed to score every set.
“For a first hit out it was good. We looked strong and dominant in collision which is what we wanted at times.
“It was just a little bit scrappy and we couldn’t get that consistency going and in attack, we made a few too many errors and they were back to back as well. That was disappointing that we didn’t have a bit more control in the game.”

John
January 26, 2025 at 12:50 pm
Why do you continue to use such dramatic text in the leaders? Rovers made up from second team, juniors and a couple of trialist would not have been “stunned” to be beaten by a strong York squad.