Rugby League Coaching Manuals

Sporting Life - Tony Smith's tenure as Warrington head coach began with a cruel 20-14 defeat after his former club Leeds snatched the points with a late try from Danny McGuire at the Halliwell Jones Stadium.

Smith, who guided Leeds to two championships in four years at Headingley between 2004 and 2007, was unveiled by the Wolves on Thursday after signing a two-and-a-half-year contract.

His new side have now lost nine matches in succession in a dismal run dating back to the end of last season but a point was the least they deserved against the Rhinos.

Leeds were 12-0 ahead after six minutes thanks to converted tries from Carl Ablett and Kevin Sinfield but Warrington hit back with scores from Lee Briers, Mickey Higham and Chris Hicks to level the match at 14-14 shortly before the hour mark.

Warrington were largely dominant throughout and only poor handling and excellent defending denied them further tries but McGuire capitalised on an error from Wolves full-back Chris Riley to seal victory in the 70th minute.

In Sunday's other game Hull KR beat Wakefield 31-18. Playmaker Michael Dobson laid on two tries and added five conversions and a late drop goal as Rovers claimed a second successive win.

The hosts touched down three times in the first period and twice in the second, with the gloss taken off the scoreline by two late scores from the Wildcats, who lost for the second time this season.

Wigan turned the jeers to cheers at the JJB Stadium with a 44-10 rout of a disappointing Bradford side.

The Warriors were booed off the pitch after suffering surprise home defeats to Wakefield and Castleford during their worst start to a league season for 23 years, but the Bulls never looked capable of making it a hat-trick of Yorkshire victories at the JJB Stadium.

Wigan ran in seven tries, including two from outstanding second-rower Gareth Hock, while full-back Pat Richards contributed 20 points with a try and eight goals from eight attempts.

A comprehensive defeat leaves Bradford still looking for their first win of the season, with coach Steve McNamara coming under severe pressure.

St Helens beat Celtic Crusaders 4-0 in Bridgend after one of the lowest-scoring games in the competition's history.

The only points arrived in the 57th minute when winger Tom Armstrong crossed in the corner. Sean Long failed to add the conversion.

Castleford recorded a first away win over Catalans Dragons in Perpignan, 24-22.

The hosts made a slow start and were 10-0 down after 21 minutes but recovered to draw level at 18-18 around the hour mark.

However the Tigers had the final say through substitute Rangi Chase's decisive try.

On Friday, Hull leapfrogged defending champions Leeds into top spot after maintaining their impressive start to the season with a 24-20 win at Huddersfield on Friday.

A masterclass display from stand-off Richard Horne was the highlight against a Gaints side who never fully recovered from a wretched first-half performance at the Galpharm Stadium.

Hull were also indebted to the silky skills of former Giants captain Chris Thorman while the victory was sweet, too, for football manager Jon Sharp, who was sacked by Huddersfield last June.

Huddersfield made a dream start with a try from skipper Brett Hodgson after just two minutes but Tom Briscoe scored an equalising try seven minutes later and Hull went on to boss the show, thanks largely to their opponents' generosity.

Horne touched down for his 101st try for the club and although Joe Walsh replied for the hosts substitute Jamie Thackray powered his way over at the corner after Huddersfield failed to deal with Horne's high kick to restore the eight-point advantage.

After the break Kevin Brown reduced the arrears but another error was pounced upon by Hull with Kirk Yeaman racing onto Thorman's expertly-judged grubber kick to touch down.

Danny Tickle was off target for the first time but made amends with a 40-metre penalty to open up a 10-point lead, which was a big enough cushion to enable them to withstand a late Giants onslaught - Brown sending winger David Hodgson over for a consolation try in injury time.

In the night's other game, Chris Melling notched a hat-trick of tries as Harlequins beat Salford 48-18, sending the Reds to a third successive defeat.

Harlequins romped into a 22-0 lead midway through the first half with ex-Wigan winger Melling bagging a treble before the break.

Salford trailed 30-6 at the interval before a better second-half show with converted tries from John Wilshere and Robbie Paul cut the gap to 12 points.

But Harlequins secured victory when Chad Randall caught Salford napping to dart over from dummy half in the 69th minute and make it 36-18.

Harlequins were not finished with Luke Dorn and Daniel Heckenberg crossing in the last four minutes and Danny Orr finishing with six goals from nine attempts.