Leeds Rhinos coach Rohan Smith talks win over Hull FC, Tom Holroyd's England call and Aidan Sezer injury
Coach Rohan Smith has welcomed prop Tom Holroyd’s England call-up and insisted he wasn’t “dropped” to the bench for Friday’s 34-10 home win over Hull FC.
Holroyd was among Rhinos’ substitutes for the first time this season at the end of a week when he was called into the England squad.
Sam Lisone took over in the starting 13 and explaining his decision, Smith said: “It was an opportunity for Sam to start and Tom to play some more minutes.
“He did well and had some real impact. It wasn’t a demotion to the bench, it was to give him an opportunity to attack a more tired defensive line.
“He did that and the England call up was certainly warranted, he would be in the top bunch of middle-unit English forewards in the competition”
Holroyd scored one of Rhinos’ three first-half tries as they built an 18-0 half-time lead. Assessing Rhinos’ performance, Smith said: “We still weren’t great, but we’ve got plenty in us. We’re probably a better defensive team than an attacking one at the moment.”
The coach reflected: “It was a clumsy game all-round, but I thought we had enough patches where we showed enough flow with the ball and overall our defence was very good, aside from a couple of moments when we were a little disconnected chasing kicks.”
Smith confirmed half-back Aidan Sezer passed a head injury assessment (hia) in the first-half, despite not coming out after the break.
“We did okay while he was off for his hia,” Smith reflected. “He passed that, it was more of a choice at half-time.
“He had a contusion, a really sore spot, rather than any concussion symptoms and he’d also rolled his ankle a bit. I was very keen to give Ash Handley some time at full-back.”