In hindsight, the one thing I didn't refer to in my original post which I should have done was the fatigue level... Given this, taking the two does indeed give the team a potentially valuable breather, so you definitely have a point on that score... However, if you are a fatigued player, what would you rather be doing - attacking 10 yards from the opposition's line (bearing in mind the like of Hall, Watkins, Moon and Hardaker who all still looked fairly fresh could have taken a few drives in - as Hall indeed did end up doing quite a few times in the remaining play) or defending 35 yards out against a team throwing it about all over the place desperate for a score?

At the end of the day, the fact that by taking the two Leeds showed they backed themselves to handle the short kick off, hence showing positivity as opposed to my negativity, and they turned out to be right - but it could so very easily have gone against us. It just makes it all the tougher to watch when supporting a team who put us through the wringer enough as it is

It can also be quite uplifting for a defence that successfully stops a team on their line when that team has turned down the opportunity of two points.

Impossible to answer (even for TVOC) but I'd love to know how many points Leeds have "lost" by refusing the two and then not getting a try. Nothing frustrates me more than when a penalty is refused and the ball is turned over a tackle or two later!

My recollection is the Leeds team of 2004 under Tony Smith started this trend of running penalties. That was then and this is now. that team was so superior to the rest of the league that it could afford to do that. No team since has, IMO, had such dominance.

I would say take the two every time but I think the new shift in thinking is about right.

Even in landslide victory or defeat?

I'm reminded of Alex Murphy's reaction to Paul Vautin turning down a kickable penalty while Saints were getting nilled by Wigan at Wembley. Let's just say that even though it would have had zero impact on the actual result, he wasn't best pleased at his captain choosing to run the ball on that occasion.

against the top teams i'm always glad to see a score posted as you expect a top notch defence unit trying to stop you scoring a try but i'd feel differently on friday if we didn't back ourselves against london on friday

Even if we lost by a point?