Yorkshire 26 Lancashire 13: Old rivals end Red Rose's Twickenham hope

With so much at stake it was, predictably, a fiercely-fought contest at Hull Ionians where the result was in doubt until the last 10 minutes.

A poor five-minute spell in the first half from Lancashire, along with Yorkshire’s lower error count, meant the White Rose earned their first trip to Twickenham in 16 years and now face Southern group winners Kent.

Lancashire soaked up some early pressure before Matt Sturgess’ break enabled them to work their way upfield and force a penalty, kicked by Greg Smith.

The lead didn’t last long as Yorkshire chipped over the top and forced an error, turning over the ball in the Lancashire 22.

A couple of hefty drives sucked in the defence and created space out wide for Hull winger Pete Hudson-Kowalewicz to score, giving Yorkshire a lead they were never to relinquish.

To make matters worse, Lancashire saw Fylde winger Adam Lanigan suffer a nasty injury that was later confirmed as a leg break.

The next 15 minutes saw the Red Rose under some heavy pressure before stout defence allowed them to finally exit.

Corey Bowker carried on another Sturgess break but, as a score looked inevitable, a penalty was awarded and Yorkshire’s George Hedgeley sinbinned.

Toby Harrison was bundled into touch from the resulting lineout before Yorkshire went further ahead as Hudson-Kowalewicz crossed again, Elliott Fisher converting.

Lancashire’s restart then failed to go 10 metres and brought a scrum, from which Yorkshire winger Sam Taylor was sent clear to score with Fisher again adding the extras.

It meant, in the space of three minutes, Yorkshire had scored 14 points to lead 19-3 at half-time, all while down to 14 men; this was, in the final analysis, the crucial part of the game.

Yorkshire spurned an early second-half chance and were made to pay by the Red Rose.

Hard work from the pack gained territory before neat interchange play between Sturgess and Smith saw the latter score near the posts, adding the conversion to leave Lancashire 19-10 adrift on 42 minutes.

He then landed a penalty on the hour but, with the next score crucial, it went to Yorkshire eight minutes later as Lewis Minikin touched down a kick from Fisher who also converted.

Lancashire did not give up as another penalty gave them good lineout position, from which Scott Rawlings’ muscular burst nearly took him to the line.

Recycled ball then saw Jacob Browne stopped within inches scoring by a superb tackle, as Yorkshire defended desperately.

The Red Rose had one more chance, an opportunity which summed up their day.

Yorkshire skipper Joe Makin picked off the pass, right on his own line, just as it looked like Lancashire must score.

Instead, he trundled 40 yards upfield and put boot to ball, pinning Lancashire back in their own 22.

From there, the home team managed to see out time and earn themselves the trip to Twickenham.

Lancashire: Bowker , Burtonwood, Rylance, Garrod, Barron, Bradley, Harrison, James, Sturgess, Smith, Lanigan, Rawlings, Glasse, Lightowler, Browne. Replacements: Altham, Ailes, Crowe, Trippier, Hunt, Longson, Sam Russell.