Rugby

Kris Welham scored a hat-trick as Hull KR pushed aside the Bradford Bulls by 46 points to 18 at Craven Park to leapfrog their opponents in the engage Super League table.

Hull KR full-back Shaun Briscoe returned to the starting line-up after recovering from a knee injury that had caused a six-match lay-off.

Bradford coach Mick Potter handed Ben Jeffries his first start since the Australian half-back re-signed for the club from Wakefield Trinity Wildcats.

Jeffries, who was a key player at Odsal between 2007 and 2009, took only four minutes to make an impact on his second ‘debut’ for Bradford at New Craven Park.

The 30-year-old’s perfectly lofted kick caused confusion in the Hull KR back line, and although Bradford second-rower Ian Sibbit could only fumble the ball backwards, Kyle Briggs was on hand to touch down from point-blank range.

An unfortunate knock-on from Bulls loose forward James Donaldson 15 metres from his own line soon handed Hull KR the initiative, though, and from the following set Michael Dobson slipped a pass to Welham, who found a route to the try line.

Three minutes later, Dobson and Welham combined again in identical fashion as the latter registered his second try of the afternoon, although Dobson’s resulting conversion from wide out drifted wide.

Australian stand-off Blake Green then raced through a gaping hole in Bradford’s static defence to extend Hull KR’s advantage.

However, an error from Green straight from the restart gave the visitors a penalty, and the influential Jeffries found wing Gareth Raynor with a cut-out pass to reduce the deficit.

Green’s action-packed half then took a turn for the better as he found Hull KR centre Jake Webster for a third try in six minutes, and three minutes later Dobson brushed off the attentions of poor tackling to stretch for the line as the home side opened up a 16-point lead.

The hosts’ bombardment continued in the second half as Webster decided to run on the sixth tackle and offloaded to Peter Fox, who found Liam Watts inside for a simple try.

With Hull KR’s lead already looking unassailable, Bradford finally found some momentum going forward.

Prop Andy Lynch barged over after Craig Kopczak had been held up inches short of the line, and then Elliott Whitehead spilled the ball as Bradford looked certain to score again.

Jeffries then went close with a superb solo run, but Bradford’s hopes of an unlikely comeback were curtailed by Welham, who profited from excellent work from Ben Cockayne to notch his hat-trick try just before the hour mark.

Hull KR came close to further tries late on, but Fox was denied a length-of-the-field interception try by Shad Royston and then Matt Cook’s celebrations were cut short by referee Richard Silverwood after Cockayne had knocked on.

However, Fox was given a simple opportunity to complete the rout by Webster, who ploughed to the line and offloaded to the England wing with three minutes remaining.