It was forecast to be the mother of mismatches, but the one-way Leeds Rhinos traffic at a wintry Wrexham was reserved for the last 15 minutes of an intriguing opening match of the Engage Super League season last night.

Crusaders, a team thrown together who had not even had a practice match, gave a stirring first-night performance. They emerged with much credit and got an enthusiastic crowd of 10,334 onside, before the champions threw off their rustiness in an unanswerable burst of five tries.

Snow on the ground was hardly a surprise for the competition’s first January start. If the conditions were something of a leveller, a packed, partisan crowd at the Racecourse Ground ensured that Crusaders had a crucial advantage. The sport may be a novelty in North Wales, but the locals appreciated a scratch team who gave their all and benefited from an early lead provided by Michael Witt’s penalty goal after two minutes.

Leeds arrived in a whiteout and were smothered by a red blanket. Inspired by the intelligent kicking of Witt and Lincoln Withers, the Crusaders forwards made life as uncomfortable as possible for the rattled Rhinos. Never mind that the home team sported only one Welsh-born player in Lloyd White, the mix of adopted Englishmen and Antipodeans were hailed as adopted Welsh sons on the strength of a battling 65 minutes.

Leeds were fortunate to be level at 6-6, after Luke Dyer was denied by Ryan Hall’s cover tackle before the break. After letting slip a couple of early chances, the visiting team profited more by putting boot to ball. Brett Delaney, the Australian centre making his debut, steered a kick that shot through the legs of the bemused Nick Youngquest and bobbled invitingly for the onrushing Scott Donald.

Crusaders’ big moment arrived after 28 minutes, when Witt lofted a kick that Vince Mellars, climbing above the Leeds defence, shipped on to the unmarked Gareth Raynor, the former Great Britain wing, Their defence was unyielding, until five tries in 13 minutes were sparked by a gamble by Kallum Watkins, the Leeds full back. The 18-year-old’s offload close to his line looked reckless, but his adventure sparked a scintillating, breakthrough try from 90 metres, as Delaney outfoxed the cover and dispatched the unstoppable Danny McGuire.

Crusaders were still recovering when Kevin Sinfield’s steepling kick was caught and smuggled out of the tackle by McGuire for Ali Lauitiiti to power his way over.

Danny Buderus stabbed a kick through for Sinfield to pounce, Delaney added another and Lauitiiti got his second late on. Class told, but for just over an hour Leeds unexpectedly found themselves in a match.

“We had a full house and probably 9,500 people were new to the sport,” Brian Noble, the Crusaders coach, said. “They saw a level of commitment from us that they appreciated and hopefully that will stimulate them to come back. We fell away towards the end, which we’ll need to improve on, but we showed this team has a pulse.”

Scorers: Crusaders: Try: Raynor. Goal: Witt. Leeds Rhinos: Tries: Donald, McGuire, Lauitiiti 2, Sinfield, Delaney. Goals: Sinfield 5.
Crusaders: N Youngquest; L Dyer, R Trimarchi, V Mellars, G Raynor; M Witt, L Withers; R O’Hara, T Lee, M Bryant, J Chan, A Peek, F Winterstein. Interchange: J Thackray, J James, L White, P Lupton.
Leeds Rhinos: K Watkins; S Donald, B Delaney, K Senior, R Hall; D McGuire, R Burrow; K Leuluai, D Buderus, R Bailey, J Jones-Buchanan, C Ablett, K Sinfield. Interchange: A Lauitiiti, M Diskin, G Eastwood, I Kirke.
Referee: B Thaler.