Arthur Mourgue injury, Rovers cling on, stupid sin bin and other Leigh Leopards v Hull KR talking points

Hull KR were left out on their feet as they just clung on to beat Leigh Leopards in an absolute thriller.

Leigh Leopards scored two tries late on but didn’t quite have enough as Hull KR won 20-16 to record their eighth win in a row.

It means the Robins move to fourth in Super League with Willie Peters’ side doing enough in the final 10 minutes of the first half when they scored three tries.

Leading 20-6 at the half, Leigh threatened the comeback with tries from Josh Charnley and Jack Hughes but multiple last-ditch tackles including one from Joe Burgess ensured Hull KR clung on for a famous win.

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Leigh Leopards and Hull KR talking points

Robins march on

After their slow start to the season, Hull KR now have eight wins on the spin in all competitions and they’re beating strong teams as well and in good fashion.

Early on it looked like they could be suffering a Challenge Cup hangover but once they clicked into gear they were brilliant with the final ten minutes of the first half seeing them near unstoppable.

That run of form has taken them to fourth in Super League and with back-to-back games against Wigan, first in Super League and then in the Challenge Cup, they’re approaching a massive fortnight of rugby league. Wins in both would surely cement their status as favourites to go for another clean sweep of silverware.

Leigh not far off

Their win over Catalans Dragons was the first time that Lachlan Lam and Adam Cook truly clicked this year and for ten minutes in the second-half the pair had it going again.

Unfortunately for Leigh, it was too little, too late, but there are clear signs that the Leopards have enough to make the top six this year despite their slow start to the season.

By the final 10 minutes, Hull KR were clinging on and that’s testament to how good the Leopards were. This match was dubbed as an acid test for Leigh and whilst they ultimately failed, they were so close and there are clearly enough signs to suggest they’ll have a say at the business end of the season.

Silly Mikey Lewis

Whilst it didn’t matter in the end as Hull KR still won, Mikey Lewis put his side in unnecessary danger and it’s not the first time he’s done it this season. Round one saw his sin bin prove more costly and there were fears it could happen again today.

With just ten seconds of the first-half to play, Lewis lay on the ball-carrier for a ridiculously long time in an obvious attempt to run the clock down, something that was a clear professional foul and deservedly saw him sent to the sin bin.

It was an act that Sam Tomkins described as ‘really naive’ but that seemed generous with Lewis clearly acting with intent to slow down a Leigh side who only had a matter of seconds anyway.

The second-half then saw Lewis do something similar as he kept pushing and pushing the already-held Joe Ofahengaue over the touch line, resulting in another penalty for the Leopards. Perhaps irrelevant today in terms of the result, it’s something that he needs to cut out before it costs them again.

Arthur Mourgue

On his return to the Hull KR side, Mourgue put in a brilliant 60-minute performance before then suffering what appeared to be a recurrence of his pectoral injury that ruled him out for almost three months.

The Frenchman was under the pump early on both physically in terms of his defensive work but also in fielding Leigh’s strong kick chases, however, that did not phase him and his influence slowly grew to the point that he scored a try before half-time.

Then the injury hit as Mourgue tackled Liam Horne with his right shoulder looking to stretch far out of position in what would suggest a recurrence of the pectoral muscle tear he suffered in the World Club Challenge.

If that is the case and if it’s anywhere near as severe then Mourgue may well miss the majority of the remainder of the season. Hull KR will be hoping that’s not the case.

Niu injured in warm-up

Leigh were finally starting to get some bodies back with both David Armstrong and Bailey Hodgson named for this game, whilst preferred centre pairing Tesi Niu and Umyla Hanley were set to play together for just the second time this season.

That was until Niu picked up a hamstring injury in the warm-up and had to drop out with Leigh now surely hoping that the star centre has not suffered a tear and has instead just tweaked it.

The Robins hold on in a thriller 🐦#SuperLeague pic.twitter.com/K2gbuX8l7I

— Betfred Super League (@SuperLeague) May 16, 2026