Under strength and below par, Leeds made it two wins from two in the defence of their engage Super League crown but it was Wakefield who took most of the honours from the West Yorkshire derby.

An injury to scrum-half Sam Obst in the warm-up left the Wildcats without 10 members of their 26-strong squad through injury and illness, and they were forced to give a debut to 19-year-old part-timer Luke Blake.

But, fresh from their opening 12-6 win at Wigan, the visitors battled superbly and were in the hunt for another shock victory until debutant Danny Buderus sent Ian Kirke over for the match-clinching try seven minutes from the end.

Leeds, too, were short of experience with skipper Kevin Sinfield one of five internationals on the sidelines after succumbing to a calf injury, although they were able to welcome former Australia hooker Buderus to Super League.

The one-time Kangaroo captain was introduced 25 minutes into the match and settled easily into his accustomed role, with Matt Diskin switched to the back row.

The Rhinos made a dream start, with second rower Ali Lauitiiti dummying his way over for the game's first try after only two minutes, but Wakefield were in no mood to roll over.

Centre Sean Gleeson crossed the Leeds line midway through the first half only to be brought back for a forward pass and stand-off Scott Grix was denied a try by a brilliant last-ditch tackle from the outstanding Lee Smith.

Wakefield's only reward was a penalty from makeshift scrum-half Tony Martin, but they gifted their opponents a try when full-back Matt Blaymire fumbled Smith's re-start to present Jamie Jones-Buchanan with a clear run to the line.

Smith added the conversion to put his side into a 10-point interval lead, which was harsh on Wakefield's spirited efforts in adversity.

The Wildcats were reduced to 12 men just before the break when centre Ryan Atkins was sin-binned for fighting, but they managed comfortably and actually cut the deficit by two points when Martin landed a long-range penalty.

With the evergreen Brad Drew prompting and probing effectively, the visitors continued to enjoy periods of domination without managing to crack the superb Leeds defence.

The Rhinos suffered a blow when promising centre Kallum Watkins limped off injured 12 minutes into the second half, but they ought to have extended their lead when Danny Allan, a third-choice stand-off, broke clear but ran out of steam as he got to the line.

The ever-dangerous Drew then thought he had scored after burrowing his way to the line on the last tackle but he was ruled to have been held short.

The Wildcats' resistance was finally broken on 73 minutes when Kirke ended a sustained spell of pressure on the visitors' line by crashing over for his side's third try and substitute Ashley Gibson added the goal.