Leeds coach Dean Lance paid a glowing tribute to Bradford Bulls after they thrashed his side 44-2 at Headingley last night to go back to the top of Super League.

The Bulls went back above Wigan and St Helens after following up their 24-18 Challenge Cup final success over the Rhinos and extending their unbeaten run to 15 matches.

"They are where they belong," admitted Lance. "We were outplayed by the better team on the night. They proved they are the best team in the competition at this stage.

"It wasn't a great performance by us but there was plenty of effort and I don't think the scoreline was a true indication of the game.

"What was disappointing was that we stood back and watched them play. We ball-watched the Paul brothers."

Bulls skipper Robbie Paul scored one of his side's seven tries - his 75th for the club - and drew rich praise from his coach Matthew Elliott.

"He's an international player now and taken a whole lot of responsibility and when Robbie plays well, invariably the team plays well and he has been playing well all year," said Elliott.

"The fact that we have been able to secure him with a long term contract sets us up really well.

"But this was a defensive win, it wasn't down to sparkling offensive play.

"To win by that margin with the amount of ball we surrendered and with the penalty count against us was outstanding."

The Bulls were forced to withstand tremendous pressure but they proved just why they have the best defence in Super League with a magnificent tackling stint.

Robbie Paul said: "One of the things that makes us special is that we are frustrating a lot of teams. Everybody works for each other."

The Bulls Academy side were back on top form after a sticky patch with a 14-8 success over the Rhinos in the curtain-raiser.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.