Hull KR produced a huge defensive effort in their victory over Leigh Leopards to maintain their Super League play-off push yesterday. The Robins came out on top of a tight encounter, thanks to tries from Tom Opacic and Niall Evalds.
Leigh came into the game in red-hot form having won three and drawn one of their last four games. Leigh lost ground on the top six early in the season, and are playing like a side possessed as they attempt to claw their way back into contention, which makes the result even more important for KR.
The result moves KR up to third in the table, ahead of the Warrington Wolves, with 18 points from their opening games. They are just two points behind Wigan Warriors and St Helens, who occupy the league’s top two spots.
Speaking in the build-up to the game versus Leigh, Sam Tomkins identified KR’s stadium as one of the key factors behind their surge to the top of the table.
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Tomkins pinpoints Super League ground with the best atmosphere
Credit: Imago Images
Speaking before KR’s victory over Leigh, Sky Sports pundit, Sam Tomkins, picked out a major reason for their success. Tomkins believes KR’s stadium has the best atmosphere in Super League.
Tomkins said: “The one thing that Hull KR have got is the field that they’re playing on.
“I don’t believe any other fans in Super League get behind the team and create an atmosphere and create a buzz better than the Hull KR fans.”
Crowds at Craven Park have surged in recent years, as the east side of Hull gets behind the Robins’ success. This year, they announced that they had sold over 8,000 memberships, setting an all-time record for the club. In the build-up to the game, Adrian Lam cited some of the difficulties of travelling to KR, in particular the size of changing rooms.
Lam said, “You get there and the ground, with all due respect, the dressing rooms aren’t the greatest. They are small and tiny and the crowd is in your face, which is something you want from a home crowd.”
Hull KR boss pleased with defensive effort
Credit: Imago Images
Speaking after the game, Hull KR boss identified defence as the key reason KR were able to hold on for a huge win. KR’s defence has been criticised at times this season, particularly their right edge, so Peters was pleased to see their side hold on to a clean sheet against a Leigh side who are desperate to get back into contention for the top six.
“I’m extremely pleased, I think it was our toughest win of the season so far. And the reason being is [how] we defended.
“We put ourselves under pressure at times with some unforced errors but we just defended it and that’s what we know we’re capable of,” he said. “We’ve been working really hard to get our defence right and we did tonight against a very good attacking team.
“We’re huge on that, competing and effort, we’ve a lot of examples to show the players there what it looks like. They’ve worked extremely hard for a long time to put in a performance like that.
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