It was a second straight National One win for the Berkshire boys as they remain sixth in the table, eight points adrift of a play-off place.
Captain Max Hayman opened the scoring before the visitors replied with a converted Connor Walker try, Harry Stone restoring Rams’ lead.
Leeds hit back with a Seramaia Turagabeci seven-pointer, but it was 22-14 at the break as Kalling-Smith grabbed his first before fellow wing Zach Clow danced over, Andrew Lamb with a brilliant touch-line conversion.
Sweden’s record-breaking try-scorer Kalling-Smith collected a quick-fire double after the break to create a 20-point advantage, Mike Cooke on target following the sumptuous solo second.
And despite Albert Bradshaw and Walker earning Leeds a bonus-point, their efforts were not enough for the Yorkshiremen.
‘Great to get the win’
Reflecting on victory, Axel said: “It was tough – when we played them at their place, they were a very different side (Rams inflicting a fifth straight defeat on their opponents at the start of the season).
“So we knew we had to bring intensity in defence from the start, and we maintained it in the second half, so it was great to get the win.”
Axel’s treble took his tally to 39 tries in 87 Rams appearances with his third another for the highlight reel.
And he continued: “It was nice to score in Birdy’s Corner, but it came from the work we’d done during the week in terms of the depth in attack – it gives you space out wide and was also how Zach scored his in the first half.”
Despite only being 27, the Swede was the fourth oldest player in the starting line-up and he admitted: “When you’re trying to keep up with 19-year-olds coming in it does give you a spring of life, but as a team, we want to become the quickest, the fittest, the best at going forward.
“I’ve got to try and keep up with them so I can pick the ball up on their shoulders after they’ve made the line-breaks!”
Following the stunning comeback success at Tonbridge Juddians seven days before, the hat-trick hero ended: “The main thing was to back up last week.
“Tonbridge was amazing, but we had to make sure we started well, and we did.
“We’re building a bit of momentum, but we’ve got to take each game as it comes, keep playing our way, and hope it works for the rest of the season.”
Rams visit Birmingham Moseley next Saturday (3pm).
