The Robins produced an outstanding team display to record their first double over the Rhinos in 25 years.

Round 7 saw the Robins claim their first win at Headingley since 1985, and coming off the back of a first win at Belle Vue in the top flight, the Robins returned to Craven Park looking to write another piece of history in the form of a double over the reigning Super League champions.

Justin Morgan handed a debut to loan signing Josh Charnley from Wigan after Kris Welham failed to recover from a shoulder problem sustained in the win against Wakefield. However Scott Murrell shook off a calf problem to keep his place at stand-off, and Shaun Briscoe and Jason Netherton made welcome returns to action after knee and calf injuries respectively.

The Robins started brightly against the Rhinos, exerting some early pressure on the visitors' line before the first real chance of the game appeared.

Kevin Sinfield's flat ball put Carl Ablett through a hole and Danny McGuire was on his shoulder to head for the corner. Shaun Briscoe got his angles right and cut McGuire down just short, but the half-back reached out and touched down.

His celebrations were short-lived though, as video referee James Child correctly ruled that McGuire had been guilty of a double-movement and disallowed the try, and the Robins took full advantage.

Keith Senior was caught offside, allowing the Red and Whites easy passage into the Leeds half, before a strong drive from Josh Charnley laid the platform for Rovers to take the lead. Ben Galea's sharp footwork got him inside Jamie Peacock, before his power saw him blast through Paul McShane and Lee Smith to touch down.

Michael Dobson converted and the Robins immediately looked to capitalise on their hot start, but they were somewhat fortunate not to be pegged back three minutes later.

Peacock took the ball to the line before flicking it out to Ryan Bailey, but with the try line at his mercy, the Leeds prop spilled the pass.

The Red and Whites looked full of confidence, and were playing with great energy and intensity - a fact underlined as they forced the first of three drop-outs before the break, and almost converted it into points. However Brett Delaney's last-ditch tackle just managed to prevent Ben Cockayne from getting the ball down.

As the contest flowed from one end to another, some great acrobatics from Smith weren't quite enough to earn him a try after McGuire's bomb had rebounded off the post and towards the dead-ball line.

Just as earlier in the half, the Robins were in no mood to hang around and count their blessings, and immediately launched an attack of their own. A great chase and tackle from Charnley on Ryan Hall earned the home side another drop-out, and from there a neat step and instantaneous one-handed offload from Liam Watts allowed Ben Fisher to dive over.

Dobson converted, but the Rhinos came straight back, and their willingness to offload was causing havoc for the Robins' defence, however they recovered and scrambled superbly to deny Ablett and force him to lose the ball just short.

With half-time approaching rapidly after a breathless first half, the Red and Whites were beginning to show signs of fatigue, and that was typified by Dobson's misjudged kick, which bounced on the line.

Leeds saw the opportunity for a late strike, and threw caution to the wind, giving the ball plenty of air, only for Kevin Sinfield's loose pass to be snapped up by Peter Fox on his own 40 metre line. Hall gave chase, but there was no catching Fox, who dived in under the posts, and Dobson's conversion gave the Red and Whites a well-deserved three-score lead at the break.

Half-Time: Hull KR 18      Leeds Rhinos 0

The Robins had produced their best 40 minutes of the season so far, but it would need another similarly impressive display in the second half to hold off the inevitable Rhinos comeback.

The early signs were promising though, as the Red and Whites seemed to be picking up where they left off, forcing back-to-back drop-outs on the Leeds line before unpicking the Rhinos' defence once more.

Clint Newton's offload created space for Charnley, who stepped inside before flicking the ball out to Fox, but with the defence racing across, he wasn't able to hold the pass and the chance went begging.

Three minutes later, the Robins were made to pay for their mistake, as the Rhinos finally got themselves on the board. The returning Rob Burrow produced an inch-perfect grubber for Hall to touch down, and Sinfield's conversion threw the game back into the melting pot.

However the visitors' momentum was curtailed almost immediately, as straight from the restart, Luke Ambler spilled the ball in a textbook tackle by Mick Vella to put the Robins straight back on the attack.

Good work from dummy half by Josh Hodgson created a chance for Vella to power over from close range, but in the collision, the ball squirted out of his grasp and let the Rhinos off the hook.

The visitors now had something to build on though, and they began to show their class as they pulled Rovers' defence from pillar to post in search of a crucial score.

A long ball from McGuire looked to have given Hall his second try of the game, but a crunching hit from Fox felled his opposite number just inches short of the line.

Then shortly after, Peacock's offload freed McGuire, but with Scott Donald on his shoulder, the half-back ignored him and wasted a golden chance.

Rovers looked to ease the pressure which was building on them, but Scott Murrell's drop-goal attempt drifted wide. Three minutes later though, Dobson showed him how it was done, as he calmly slotted a one-pointer to leave Leeds needing three scores to win.

With ten minutes to go, the Rhinos laid siege to the Red and Whites' line, but after some heroic scrambling defence, the breakthrough finally came.

Burrow's cut-out ball put Hall over at the corner, but he inexplicably dropped the ball as he tried to touch down, and video referee Child disallowed the score.

That was the visitors' big chance, and the Robins made them pay for their mistake, as Galea's pinpoint grubber was snapped up by a flying Cockayne for a try to put the icing on the cake.

Dobson again added the extras, and with time ticking down the Rhinos went in search of a consolation. However it was not to be their night, as McGuire's cut-out pass put Hall over again, but under pressure from Fox and the excellent Charnley, the Leeds winger again failed to ground the ball.

That left the Robins to celebrate a historic double over the back-to-back Super League champions - their first in 25 years.

Full-Time: Hull KR 25      Leeds Rhinos 6

Hull KR: 1. Shaun Briscoe; 2. Peter Fox, 32. Josh Charnley, 28. Ben Cockayne, 29. Sam Latus; 9. Scott Murrell, 7. Michael Dobson; 20. Mick Vella, 17. Ben Fisher, 30. Joel Clinton; 11. Clint Newton, 13. Ben Galea, 22. Liam Watts.

Replacements: 21. Josh Hodgson, 14. Matt Cook, 16. Jason Netherton, 8. Rhys Lovegrove.

Leeds: 28. Lee Smith; 2. Scott Donald, 3. Brett Delaney, 4. Keith Senior, 5. Ryan Hall; 13. Kevin Sinfield, 6. Danny McGuire; 16. Ryan Bailey, 25. Paul McShane, 10. Jamie Peacock; 18. Carl Ablett, 11. Jamie Jones-Buchanan, 27. Chris Clarkson.

Replacements: 7. Rob Burrow, 17. Ian Kirke, 24. Luke Ambler, 20. Jay Pitts.

Referee: Mr T. Alibert                        Attendance: 8,406