Hape helps Bulls slaughter Hull KR in his final game
Shontayne Hape scored in his final Bradford Bulls match before he heads to Bath RFU next month to help condemn Hull KR to a fifth consecutive defeat. Hape's 85th Bradford try was a turning point for his side after they had earlier looked in danger of losing their fourth consecutive Super League home game when 16-6 down.
"He has been very good for the club," Bradford boss Steve McNamara said of 26-year-old Hape. "We are very pleased for him and he goes with our best wishes."
Bradford took the lead early on as David Solomona muscled over from short range but Hull then dominated as Peter Fox, Paul Cooke and Michael Dobson all scored comfortably against a Bulls side that looked overstretched and low on confidence.
However, despite their 10 point lead, Hull failed to seize the game entirely and an error from Ben Cockayne gave Bradford the luck they craved.
An errant pass from the full-back inside his own ten metres missed all his teammates and was pounced upon by Bradford's Paul Sykes to get them back in the match.
It was then Hape's moment. He managed to cross on the left wing to rapturous applause just before half-time to equalise before Iestyn Harris kicked his third out of an eventual six conversions. From then on, it was a procession for the home side.
Simon Finnigan went over under the posts straight after the interval and further tries from Sykes, Iestyn Harris and Michael Platt comprehensively ensured Hape's send off would be a happy one, despite a late consolation for the hapless Cockayne.
In the other two Super League games on Sunday, a severely understrength Leeds side staged a second-half recovery to edge out bottom-of-the-table Castleford.
Leeds, missing 14 players because of international commitments and injuries, fielded several Academy youngsters and had Brent Webb at scrum-half.
Castleford took a 6-0 lead into the break thanks to Richard Owen's score, and led 10-0 after Joe Westerman's try.
But Leeds hit back with Lee Smith, Webb and Matt Diskin claiming crucial second-half scores.
However St Helens closed the gap on Leeds at the top of the table with a convincing win, despite fielding six players who featured for England on Friday.
Saints showed no signs of fatigue, as they took a 28-6 lead into the break after tries from Francis Meli, Keiron Cunningham and Maurie Fa'asavalu.
Willie Talau, Sean Long and James Roby soon extended Saints' lead as the Giants continued to concede penalties.
Danny Kirmond and Stuart Jones grabbed consolation scores for Huddersfield.
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