It was moving weekend in the qualifiers as the hopefuls entered the penultimate round of fixtures all hoping that they could perform and that other results would go their way.

All Championship sides had Super League opposition and while the top flight sides were all favourites with the bookies there was every chance of a few upsets. On Saturday the leaders Salford were in London, Hull KR at Toulouse and Widnes at the Wolfpack. 

Sundays game saw the Leeds Rhinos travel the short distance to Halifax to try and take a critical step on their road to Super League 2019.

London Broncos got their surprise in first with a shock defeat of the Salford Red Devils. A Sammut penalty opened the London scoring on ten and three minutes later Pitts scored a converted try for an 8-0 lead. A Sammut drop goal on thirty-four send the Broncos into the sheds with a 9-0 interval lead. A fifty-seventh minute Johnson try got Salford back in the game but when Sammut kicked a penalty on seventy five the lead was 11-4. Johnson did get a second try just before the end but it was too litte, too late, as the Broncos registered a superb 11-8 win.

Toulouse sprang the days second surprise with a 34-23 win over Hull KR. KR had raced to an 19-0 lead thanks to tries from Mulhern, Hall and Atkin, all converted by Tickle, and a McGuire drop goal. Converted tries from Curran, Centrone and Robin got the home side within a point of their visitors at half time. Marguerite, Centrone and Ader added three more tries in a ten minute spell to sink the Robins and despite a late Hall consolation, Toulouse had taken a big scalp to boost their chances of promotion.

Widnes’s seven year stay in Super League was ended by a 20-12 defeat at the hands of Toronto, a win which does the Wolfpack’s Super League campaign a world of good. Once again Championship beat Super League in a topsy-turvy day.

Leeds Rhinos upset the trend when they became the only Super League side to win in a shock weekend thanks to a 34-6 win over Halifax.

With the exception of relegated Widnes and Halifax, it’s all to play for next weekend in the final round.

Current Standings (6 Rounds):

Super League 2019: Leeds Rhinos, Salford Red Devils, Toronto Wolfpack

Million Pound Game: Hull KR v. London Broncos 

Championship 2019: Toulouse Olympique XIII, Widnes Vikings, Halifax