Former Wales and British and Irish Lions skipper Gareth Thomas endured a painful rugby league debut on Friday, lasting just 30 minutes of his team's 14-6 win over Catalans Dragons at a rain-lashed Wrexham.

The 35-year-old had to be helped off the Racecourse Ground pitch after never fully recovering from a heavy tackle by David Ferriol in the first minute of the game.

"It was a tough start. I dropped the ball with my first touch, then got the bang on the head and had to come off," said Thomas.

"I'm devastated that I couldn't play the whole 80 minutes. I want to get involved. It's a great game and what happened tonight just makes me want it even more."

With the Welshman watching from the dugout, Crusaders celebrated victory thanks to tries from Jason Chan and Tony Martin.

Hull KR recorded their first league win at Headingley in 25 years as Leeds' miserable start to Super League continued in a 17-10 loss.

Liam Colbon, Peter Fox and Shaun Briscoe gave the East Yorkshire side a 16-6 lead at the interval.

Although Leeds, who have now lost four of their seven fixtures this season, managed to reduce the deficit to six points with a score from Keith Senior, the Robins held on for a memorable win.

Hull saw off Bradford 18-6 thanks to an outstanding performance from veteran Australian forward Craig Fitzgibbon.

Two tries from Jordan Tansey and one from Lee Radford secured the points for Richard Agar's men on paper, but on a wet and miserable night, it was the sheer determination and endeavour of Fitzgibbon that dragged the home side over the line.

The 32-year-old former Sydney Rooster looked out on his feet for most of the contest but called on all of the quality that earned him 19 caps for his country to dominate in both attack and defence as Hull got back on track following last weekend's hammering at Wigan.

In the night's other match, St Helens saw off Warrington 28-18.

The accurate boot of 20-year-old Kyle Eastmond denied Warrington the chance to end their Knowsley Road hoodoo as St Helens secured the win that lifted them joint top of the Super League.

With both sides scoring four tries, the outcome hinged on the goalkicking of half-back Eastmond, who kicked six goals from six attempts, including two touchline conversions, and also scored a delightful solo try to underline his growing importance.

Mick Potter's men were cruising to a fifth win when they led 20-4 after 52 minutes but the Wolves ran in three tries in eight minutes to set up a grandstand finish.

But Ade Gardner's second try on 65 minutes ended the fightback, condemning the visitors to only their second defeat of the season and continuing their dismal record at Knowsley Road.

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