Youngster scores 8, 2 get 5 in Peter Smith's Leeds Rhinos ratings from Challenge Cup win v Widnes Vikings

Rhinos, who led 18-6 at half-time after a brace of tries by George Brown and one from Danny Levi, were made to work hard for their win and lost prop Mikolaj Oledzki to a rib injury in the first half. Widnes dug deep and were only six points adrift inside the final quarter, but a brilliant solo try from winger Riley Lumb dashed their hopes. Here’s how the Leeds players rated.

Full-back: George Brown

The 18-year-old debutant didn’t let an early error dent his confidence, scored two tries and showed promising signs 7

Wing: Riley Lumb

Made a couple of errors, but chased back well once and scored a belter to wrap up the win 6

Centre: Ned McCormack

Leeds’ best, penalised once, but made an early try-saving tackle and ran the ball well 8

Centre: Harry Newman

Couple of nice offloads, but never had a clear running chance 6

Wing: Ryan Hall

Dropped the ball deep inside Leeds territory before Widnes’ first try, didn’t get into the game 5

Stand-off: Brodie Croft

Assisted in three of the four Rhinos tries and was their most potent attacking threat 8

Scrum-half: Ethan O’Neill

Had two tries ruled out, got through big minutes in an unfamiliar position 5

Prop: Mikolaj Oledzki

Started strongly, but took a knock to his ribs and went off hurt after 26 minutes 6

Hooker: Jarrod O’Connor

Played the full-80 against his hometown club, set up one try 6

Prop: Tom Holroyd

Got some valuable game time in two spells and did all right 6

Second-row: Kallum Watkins

Got a breather late on, but captained the side and was heavily involved 7

Second-row: Presley Cassell

Did the full-80, including a spell in the middle and had a strong game 7

Loose-forward: Cameron Smith

Replaced at half-time with a minor knock, but went all right before that 6

Sub: Danny Levi

Scored within moments of coming on for his debut and made a positive impact 7

Sub: Cooper Jenkins

Got good game time and a made a couple of strong runs 6

Sub: Tom Nicholson-Watton

Ran hard and put on a big hit in his return to the side after a long absence 6

Sub: Fergus McCormack

Usually a half-back, came on for his debut at full-back midway through the second half – his first game for 10 months – and looked good 7