2022 Women's Challenge Cup
| Duration | Group stage plus three knockout rounds |
|---|---|
| Number of teams | 16 |
| Broadcast partners | BBC Sport |
| Winners | St Helens |
| Runners-up | Leeds Rhinos |
| Biggest home win | Leeds Rhinos 92–0 Leigh Miners Rangers (3 April 2022) |
| Biggest away win | Hull FC 0–114 Huddersfield Giants (3 April 2022) |
| Player of the Match | Zoe Hornby (Leeds Rhinos) |
The 2022 Women's Challenge Cup (also known as the 2022 Betfred Women's Challenge Cup) was the 10th staging of the Rugby Football League's cup competition for women's rugby league clubs. The competition was won by St Helens who beat Leeds Rhinos 18–8 in the final at Elland Road on 7 May.
Format
The competition has a different format from previous years. Instead of being a straight knockout tournament, the first stage was played using a single round-robin format with the top two teams from four groups advancing to the quarter-final stage, at which point knockout format was resumed.[1]
Entry was limited to the 12 teams of the Women's Super League plus three Championship teams; Hull FC, Oulton Raidettes and Widnes Vikings; together with the Army women's team. Each team was seeded into one of four pots with one team from each pot being drawn into each group.[2]
| Pot 1 | Pot 2 | Pot 3 | Pot 4 |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Featherstone Rovers |
Barrow Raiders |
British Army |
| Group A | Group B | Group C | Group D |
|---|---|---|---|
|
St Helens |
Leeds Rhinos |
York City Knights |
Castleford Tigers |
On 6 March 2022 Widnes Vikings withdrew from the competition and were replaced by another Championship side, Dewsbury Moor.[3]
Group stage
The draw for the group stages was made on 7 December at Elland Road, Leeds. Making the draw were footballers Jermaine Beckford and Gemma Bonner.[4]
Group A
| Home | Score | Away | Match Information | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date and Time | Venue | Referee | |||
| Barrow Raiders | 0–68 | St Helens | 13 March 2022, 14:00 | Craven Park | |
| British Army | 8–50 | Warrington Wolves | Aldershot Military Stadium | ||
| St Helens | 88–0 | British Army | 27 March 2022, 14:00 | Totally Wicked Stadium | |
| Warrington Wolves | 36–16 | Barrow Raiders | Halliwell Jones Stadium | ||
| Warrington Wolves | 0–54 | St Helens | 3 April 2022, 14:00 | Halliwell Jones Stadium | |
| Barrow Raiders | 38–0 | British Army | Craven Park | ||
| Source: | |||||
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | PF | PA | PD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | St Helens | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 210 | 0 | +210 | 6 | Advance to quarter-finals with home advantage |
| 2 | Warrington Wolves | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 86 | 78 | +8 | 4 | Advance to quarter-finals |
| 3 | Barrow Raiders | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 54 | 104 | −50 | 2 | |
| 4 | British Army | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 8 | 176 | −168 | 0 |
Group B
| Home | Score | Away | Match Information | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date and Time | Venue | Referee | |||
| Huddersfield Giants | 8–38 | Leeds Rhinos | 12 March 2022, 12:00 | John Smiths Stadium | |
| Leigh Miners Rangers | 72–0 | Hull FC | 13 March 2022, 14:00 | Twist Lane | |
| Hull FC | 0–48[a] | Leeds Rhinos | — | ||
| Leigh Miners Rangers | 6–46 | Huddersfield Giants | 27 March 2022, 14:00 | Twist Lane | |
| Leeds Rhinos | 92–0 | Leigh Miners Rangers | 3 April 2022, 14:00 | Headingley | |
| Hull FC | 0–114 | Huddersfield Giants | MKM Stadium | ||
| Source: | |||||
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | PF | PA | PD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Leeds Rhinos | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 178 | 8 | +170 | 6 | Advance to quarter-finals with home advantage |
| 2 | Huddersfield Giants | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 168 | 44 | +124 | 4 | Advance to quarter-finals |
| 3 | Leigh Miners Rangers | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 78 | 138 | −60 | 2 | |
| 4 | Hull FC | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 234 | −234 | 0 |
Group C
| Home | Score | Away | Match Information | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date and Time | Venue | Referee | |||
| Dewsbury Moor | 0–78 | York City Knights | 13 March 2022, 14:00 | Dewsbury Moor Sports Club | |
| Bradford Bulls | 6–44 | Wigan Warriors | 13 March 2022, 17:00 | Horsfall Stadium | |
| York City Knights | 46–0 | Wigan Warriors | 20 March 2022, 12:00 | York Community Stadium | |
| Wigan Warriors | 62–0 | Dewsbury Moor | 27 March 2022, 12:00 | Robin Park Arena | |
| Bradford Bulls | 4–76 | York City Knights | 27 March 2022, 14:00 | Odsal Stadium | |
| Dewsbury Moor | 4–22 | Bradford Bulls | 3 April 2022, 14:00 | ||
| Source: | |||||
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | PF | PA | PD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | York City Knights | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 200 | 4 | +196 | 6 | Advance to quarter-finals with home advantage |
| 2 | Wigan Warriors | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 106 | 52 | +54 | 4 | Advance to quarter-finals |
| 3 | Bradford Bulls | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 32 | 124 | −92 | 2 | |
| 4 | Dewsbury Moor | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 162 | −158 | 0 |
Group D
| Home | Score | Away | Match Information | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date and Time | Venue | Referee | |||
| Castleford Tigers | 10–32 | Wakefield Trinity | 13 March 2022, 14:00 | The Mend-A-Hose Jungle | |
| Oulton Raidettes | 10–30 | Featherstone Rovers | |||
| Oulton Raidettes | 40–0 | Castleford Tigers | 27 March 2022, 14:00 | ||
| Wakefield Trinity | 0–32 | Featherstone Rovers | Belle Vue | ||
| Featherstone Rovers | 86–0 | Castleford Tigers | 3 April 2022, 14:00 | Post Office Road | |
| Wakefield Trinity | 12–14 | Oulton Raidettes | Belle Vue | ||
| Source: | |||||
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | PF | PA | PD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Featherstone Rovers | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 148 | 10 | +138 | 6 | Advance to quarter-finals with home advantage |
| 2 | Oulton Raidettes | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 64 | 42 | +22 | 4 | Advance to quarter-finals |
| 3 | Wakefield Trinity | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 44 | 56 | −12 | 2 | |
| 4 | Castleford Tigers | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 10 | 158 | −148 | 0 |
Quarter-finals
The quarter-finals are scheduled for the weekend of 9/10 April.[6] The teams topping each group will have home advantage in the quarter-finals.[7]
| Home | Score | Away | Match Information | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date and Time | Venue | Referee | |||
 St Helens
|
24–0 |  Huddersfield Giants
|
10 April 2022, 14:00 | Totally Wicked Stadium | |
 Leeds Rhinos
|
40–0 |  Warrington Wolves
|
10 April 2022, 14:00 | Headingley Rugby Stadium | |
 York City Knights
|
92–2 | Oulton Raidettes | 10 April 2022, 14:00 | York Community Stadium | |
 Featherstone Rovers
|
12–10 |  Wigan Warriors
|
10 April 2022, 18:00 | Post Office Road | |
| Source: | |||||
Semi-finals
The draw for the semi-finals was made on 10 April with the matches played on 24 April as a double header at Warrington's Halliwell Jones Stadium.[8]
| Team 1 | Score | Team 2 | Match Information | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date and Time | Venue | Referee | |||
| York City Knights
|
24–26 | Leeds Rhinos
|
24 April 2022, 14:30 | Halliwell Jones Stadium | |
| St Helens
|
82–0 | Featherstone Rovers
|
24 April 2022, 17:30 | ||
| Source: | |||||
Final
The final was played at Elland Road, Leeds on Saturday 7 May 2022. The match formed part of a triple-header with the semi-finals of the men's Challenge Cup.[9] The attendance of 5,888 was a new record attendance for a women's rugby league match in Great Britain.[10]
| St Helens | 18 – 8 | Leeds Rhinos |
|---|---|---|
| Tries: Burke, Partington (2), Cunningham Goals: Stott (1/4) |
report |
Tries: Hornby Goals: Winfield-Hill (2/3) |
Teams
St Helens:
Backs:Rebecca Rotheram, Eboni Partington, Amy Hardcastle, Carrie Roberts, Leah Burke, Beth Stott, Zoe Harris
Forwards:Isabelle Rudge, Tara Jones, Chantelle Crowl, Paige Travis, Naomi Williams, Jodie Cunningham
Interchanges: Vicky Whitfield, Alice Sandham, Emily Rudge, Rachael Woosey
Leeds:
Backs:Fran Goldthorp, Tasha Gaines, Hanna Butcher, Caitlin Beevers, Samantha Hulme, Georgia Roche, Courtney Winfield-Hill
Forwards:Dannielle Anderson, Keara Bannett, Aimee Staveley, Chloe Kerrigan, Elychia Watson, Zoe Hornby
Interchanges:Emma Lumley, Shannon Lacey, Orla McCallion, Alex Barnes
Broadcast matches
| Round | Match | Date | Broadcast method |
|---|---|---|---|
| Group stage match, week 1 | Barrow Raiders v St Helens | 12 March 2022 | Broadcast live on BBC Sport and BBC iPlayer |
| Group stage match, week 2 | York City Knights v Wigan Warriors | 20 March 2022 | Broadcast live on Our League |
| Group stage match, week 3 | Wakefield Trinity v Oulton Raidettes | 3 April 2022 | Broadcast live on Our League |
| Quarter-final | Featherstone Rovers v Wigan Warriors | 10 April 2022 | Broadcast live on Our League |
| Semi-final | York City Knights v Leeds Rhinos | 24 April 2022 | Broadcast live on BBC Sport and BBC iPlayer |
| St Helens v Featherstone Rovers | |||
| Final | St Helens v Leeds Rhinos | 7 May 2022 | Broadcast live on BBC Two and BBC iPlayer |
See also
Notes
References
- ^ Hughes, Steven (16 December 2021). "Women's Challenge Cup schedule confirmed". LoveRugbyLeague. Retrieved 24 December 2021.
- ^ "Saints to face Wolves in Challenge Cup". BBC Sport. 7 December 2021. Retrieved 24 December 2021.
- ^ "Betfred Women's Challenge Cup update". www.rugby-league.com. RFL. 6 March 2022. Retrieved 10 March 2022.
- ^ "Betfred Women's Challenge Cup Round 1 Draw made". www.rugby-league.com. RFL. 7 December 2021. Retrieved 24 December 2021.
- ^ Flynn, Leanne (25 March 2022). "Women's game against Hull FC called off". Leeds Rhinos. Retrieved 27 March 2022.
- ^ "A new format, a new final venue - Why we should look forward to the 2022 Women's Challenge Cup". Rugby League News. 11 December 2021. Retrieved 24 December 2021.
- ^ "Betfred Womens Challenge Cup 2022". Forty20. Vol. 12, no. 1. January 2022. p. 27.
- ^ Ibbetson, Stephen (5 April 2022). "Draw details confirmed for Challenge Cup semi-finals". TotalRL.com. Retrieved 6 April 2022.
- ^ "Elland Road to host Betfred Women's Challenge Cup Final". www.rugby-league.com. RFL. 3 December 2021. Retrieved 24 December 2021.
- ^ "Women's Challenge Cup final: St Helens come back to beat Leeds Rhinos and retain trophy". Sky Sports. 7 May 2022. Retrieved 8 May 2022.