Mighty Quins tame Rhinos

Leeds left the field to a chorus of boos at Headingley Carnegie after suffering a surprise 21-4 loss to Harlequins.

For the second successive home fixture the Rhinos were on the wrong end of an upset, managing only a last-minute try from Rob Burrow.

Quins produced a fast start that the defending champions never managed to recover from, meaning Brian McClennan's men have now lost five of their last seven matches.

The home crowd left the players in no doubt as to what they thought of their side's performance which followed on from a 30-26 reverse at the hands of Salford on Easter Monday.

Sloppy opening

A sloppy opening set the tone for a below-par performance. In contrast, the visitors roared out of the blocks, breaking the deadlock when centre David Howell accepted Luke Dorn's offload to canter in.

Hooker Chad Randall charged through a gaping hole to grab a second for Quins, Rob Purdham knocking over his second conversion attempt to make it 10-0.

Only some last-ditch defending denied former Rhino Jason Golden going over as Leeds looked a shadow of the side that had hammered Huddersfield the previous week.

Despite the best efforts of Danny McGuire, making his 200th appearance for the club, and Burrow, the hosts were unable to muster a point in the first 40 minutes.

No backlash

Quins would have thought they would come under intense pressure after the break, yet the expected backlash never materialised.

Indeed Brian McDermott's troops found life relatively easy in defence, though they did get a reprieve when Scott Donald saw a try chalked off by referee Steve Ganson for an apparent offside infringement.

Purdham kicked the resulting penalty and then slotted over a drop goal before Howell finished off a flowing move to seal the two points.

The conversion followed to make it 21-0 before the Rhinos finally found a way to the line, Burrow the scorer in the left corner right before the final hooter allowed the disgruntled Leeds fans to vent their anger.