Archive
Sun, 29 June 2008
Bradford Bulls V Hull Kingston Rovers
Bradford Bulls: Michael Platt, Paul Sykes, Shontayne Hape, Semi Tadulala, James Evans, Iestyn Harris, Ben Jeffries, Joe Vagana, Terry Newton, Andy Lynch, David Solomona, Simon Finnigan, Jamie Langley
Subs: Matt Cook, Sam Burgess, Chris Feather, Wayne Godwin
Tries: Michael Platt, Paul Sykes(2), Shontayne Hape, Iestyn Harris, David Solomona, Simon Finnigan
Goals: Iestyn Harris(6)
Hull KR: Cockayne, Fox, Welham, J. Webster, Fitzhenry, Galea, Dobson, Vella, Fisher, Mills, Gene, Chester, Cooke.
Subs: Crossman, Lovegrove, J. Netherton, I'Anson.
Tries: Cockayne, Fox, Dobson, Cooke.
Goals: (Cooke 2 from 4)
REPORT
Shontayne Hape marked his farewell appearance with a try just before half-time as Bradford Bulls produced a seven-try romp to climb up to fifth place in engage Super League.
Hape, who enjoyed a devastating partnership with fellow rugby union convert Lesley Vainikolo during the majority of his six-year stint at Bradford, joins Bath next month.
It was the New Zealander's 85th try in 136 appearances for the Bulls and an appropriate way for the fans favourite to sign off his Odsal career.
Bradford started brightly, David Solomona powering over from close range after Hape had been tackled just short of the line.
But Rovers hit back with three tries in 10 minutes as they threatened to wreak havoc.
England winger Peter Fox dived over in the corner less than 48 hours after representing his country against France to narrow the gap.
Intelligent play from Kris Welham set Paul Cooke clear under the posts before Jake Webster and Daniel Fitzhenry combined down the left flank and Michael Dobson stretched the lead, but Rovers' afternoon quickly turned sour.
Ben Cockayne's awful pass from the base of the scrum allowed Paul Sykes to claim an easy touchdown before Solomona created enough space for Hape to burst through for a sentimental score that pushed the Bulls back ahead just before the break.
Rovers had already been hit by the Jason Netherton's withdrawal during the warm-up and they were further weakened when Cockayne was forced off with a knee injury.
Bradford ruthlessly took full advantage of their opponents' difficulties with four second-half tries.
Simon Finnigan finished Ben Jeffries' break before putting Sykes clear for his double five minutes later.
Then Iestyn Harris showed a flash of his old self, side-stepping two players to bamboozle the visitors' defence and Michael Platt completed the Bulls' tally.
Cockayne grabbed a late consolation after rejoining the action but it meant little to Justin Morgan's men.
POST-MATCH COMMENTS
Bradford boss Steve McNamara praised Shontayne Hape's contribution to the Bulls after the New Zealand centre finished his Odsal career with a final flurry.
"Shontayne's been very good for the club," said McNamara.
"He likes to score tries and I was pleased to see him get over today. He goes to Bath with our best wishes and he's done very well for us. He came up with a nice try and he's a special kind of player."
McNamara admitted to being baffled by some of his side's display. The Bulls scored seven tries, including two for Paul Sykes, but McNamara insisted there was plenty to work on.
"We had a 35 per cent completion rate in the second half but it shows the potential in the side to score the points we did given what we did to ourselves."
"I'm really pleased for the group because they've had a tough couple of months."
Rovers' coach Justin Morgan remained upbeat despite seeing his side fall to their fifth consecutive defeat.
"I thought we tried really hard but we didn't have a huge amount of luck", he said.
"We kept trying until the final whistle and we showed some decent character in the last 10 minutes but we made some silly errors in the middle of the second half."
"We've got some positive signs but we've got to continue to work as of tomorrow morning to try to put things right for next week.
"Days like today help players learn. It doesn't make it easier that we've lost, but they're really good learning scenarios for the next time we're in that situation."