Rhinos climb table, St Helens win big

Leeds Rhinos won a second consecutive match to climb to ninth in the Super League table, while leaders St Helens romped to victory on Friday.

The Rhinos had been struggling at the foot of the table prior to a busy week of movement in and out of the club that preceded victory over Catalans Dragons last time out.

And Leeds triumphed again at Castleford Tigers, an 18-10 win coming courtesy of Robert Lui's clinching late try.

Two Castleford tries in three minutes from James Clare had brought the hosts back into contention, but Lui went over seven minutes from time to put the game to bed.

The Rhinos have won it! Fantastic performance by the Rhinos as they defeat Castleford for the second time this season thanks to tries from Trent Merrin, Jack Walker and Rob Lui FULL TIME Castleford 10 - 18 Leeds #SLCasLee pic.twitter.com/AcXp5C50cg

— Leeds Rhinos (@leedsrhinos) July 5, 2019

Elsewhere, St Helens - now 10 points clear at the top of the table - thrashed third-placed Hull FC 40-12.

Saints had led 40-0 with over 20 minutes remaining, with Lachlan Coote crossing for a pair of tries and kicking six conversions to contribute half their points.

A pair of late scores did little to improve the evening for hosts Hull, although the fortunes of rivals Hull KR might have lifted their mood.

Rovers were the victims of an even heavier loss at Wigan Warriors, who scored nine tries in a 52-10 success.

There were two for Liam Farrell and three for Liam Marshall, while Zak Hardaker was clinical with his boot as well as going over once.