Leeds Rhinos kept their grip on top spot in the Betfred Super League with a 46-0 demolition of Toulouse Olympique at AMT Headingley. The win kept them two points clear at the summit of the table, according to BBC Sport.

The scoreline suggests a rout. The possession numbers tell a different story. Toulouse actually held the ball for 56% of the match to Leeds's 44%, per the Super League match report. What separated the sides was ruthlessness with the ball: Leeds completed 93% of their sets (the sequence of six tackles a team receives before having to kick), while Toulouse managed just 75%. In rugby league, holding the ball through your tackles and finishing your sets cleanly is the bedrock of everything. Leeds did it near-perfectly; Toulouse did not.

Leeds crossed for eight tries, shared among seven different scorers, as noted on the Leeds Rhinos website. That the tries came from all over the park rather than one hero says something about how the side is functioning as a unit. Centre Harry Newman, who has eight tries in 23 appearances across all competitions this season, was among those involved in the attacking thrust.

What makes the performance more striking is who was missing. Leeds played without key outside backs Maika Sivo, Ash Handley and Ryan Hall, and hooker Danny Levi — four players who would walk into most Super League starting XIII (the matchday squad of thirteen starters plus interchange). The Rhinos still had far too much for the visitors.

Headingley also saw a debut. Lloyd came off the bench in the final quarter to make his first senior appearance for the club, a milestone the Rhinos' site marked separately. He joins full-back Riley Lumb — a Leeds Academy graduate who debuted during the 2024 season — as fresh homegrown talent breaking into the first-team picture.

For Toulouse, the match was a sobering afternoon. To have the majority of possession and finish with nought on the board is a combination that points to problems at both ends of the field — too many errors in attack, too many missed tackles in defence, and not enough reward for the time spent with the ball.

For Leeds, the picture is brighter. Winning heavily without a chunk of your first-choice spine and back line is the kind of depth every coach wants heading into the business end of a season. A two-point cushion at the top is not unassailable, but it gives them breathing room. Right now, everything at Headingley is clicking.