Jamie Peacock slams key decision in Challenge Cup Final

Leeds Rhinos legend Jamie Peacock had his say on his former teammate and Hull KR star Elliot Minchella becoming the first player since 2001 as the Robins lost to Leigh Leopards.

Minchella was sin binned for a late hit on Ben Reynolds in a highly controversial moment that has divided opinion.

Now Peacock has had his say on the incident that saw Minchella catch Reynolds with an elbow.

Although he was critical of Minchella for what he felt was a lazy attempt at a tackle, he said that a different decision should have been made given it was a Challenge Cup Final.

“It is lazy from Minchella, but in the context of the game and the occasion I don’t think that can be a yellow card,” he said on BBC.

“I think when you look at some of the other things that have happened in the game, for the one yellow card for that it seems very harsh.

“It’s a penalty but I don’t think that was worthy of 10 in the bin on a day like this.”

All told, it was a great game as Hull KR struck first. Elliot Minchella gave away that penalty but immediately made amends as he broke through and found Jez Litten in support to score.

A Tom Briscoe error nearly led to a Tom Opacic try as the ball was kicked ahead. Opacic was then tripped up by Lachlan Lam who went for the ball but it was deemed an accident and no penalty try was given.

Leigh then said anything you can do we can do better as Kai O’Donnell broke through in similar fashion finding Lachlan Lam in support to score.

Minchella’s strange day kept going as he was penalised for a hit on Ben Reynolds and the Leopards took a 10-6 lead as Hull KR went down to 12 men.

Hull KR then nailed a penalty of their own on the stroke of halftime to make it 10-8.

The second half started as the first one ended with a Hull KR penalty as Hull KR drew level at 10-all.

It was then a very tense second half as neither side gave each other an inch. Try scoring sensation Josh Charnley had a chance when he got the ball wide but was held up.

Tom Briscoe scores tries at Wembley like it’s his backyard. Today was his eighth Challenge Cup Final try in his fifth final appearance and his eighth in the last four. He struck a decisive blow in the corner for the Leopards after a sweeping move.

But that try was cancelled out when Parcell touched down to score in the 79th minute after a kick bounced off Zak Hardaker.

However, in the end it was Leigh who will lift the Challenge Cup after a golden point drop goal from Lachlan Lam won the game for the club.