Category: Rugby

Wigan turned to young players to win their two finals on Saturday. England’s coaches should take the same approach

By No Helmets Required

The new England coach, Brian McDermott, has a job on his hands. The man he replaced, Shaun Wane, must have watched the Challenge Cup final on Saturday from the padded seats at Wembley and thought he had dodged a bullet. The prospect of facing the NRL’s finest in the stifling heat of New South Wales at the World Cup later this year was a daunting thought even before we saw England players struggle at Wembley in 30-degree heat.

Just before the interval, Junior Nsemba must have set a stadium record for how long it takes to walk 20 yards and get back onside. He was clearly saving himself for an epic second-half performance. Clever lad. Nsemba was not so clever when he joined Sam Walters in dumping Bill Leyland on his head seconds before the hooter. He is fortunate to escape a ban given that Walters, who was shown red, has been handed a seven-match suspension.

• Led two sides to Challenge Cup glory in long career

• ‘He was a true rugby league man through and through’

John Kear, the rugby league broadcaster and former Challenge Cup-winning coach, has died at the age of 71. The Rugby Football League announced that Kear died on Sunday on his return from covering Wigan’s Challenge Cup victory at Wembley for the BBC.

Kear led nine clubs in a coaching career lasting more than 700 matches, masterminding the shock Challenge Cup win for Sheffield Eagles in 1998 and then steering Hull FC to Challenge Cup glory in 2005.

Fewer than 60,000 saw Wigan beat Hull KR in the Challenge Cup final and the sport needs to address its attendance problem

There was more Challenge Cup history under the Wembley arch on Saturday afternoon as Wigan Warriors secured a record-extending victory in rugby league’s most prestigious competition. But there was a slice of more sobering history too.

The Warriors’ demolition of Hull KR was watched by just 56,383 spectators; excluding the two Covid-affected finals of 2020 and 2021, that is the lowest figure for a Wembley Challenge Cup final since 1946. Granted, few sports obsess over attendance figures quite like rugby league but the reality is a statistic that stark is enough to merit a debate about where the sport goes next.

Wembley finalists seek to define status as modern greats but bubbling underneath is salary cap problem

It is fast becoming a familiar story. For the third consecutive season, Hull KR and Wigan square off in a major final, with an historic first meeting in the Challenge Cup decider on Saturday afternoon at Wembley the latest chapter in a generational rivalry. The record is one win each, with the Warriors triumphing in the 2024 Super League Grand Final and Rovers exacting revenge last year at Old Trafford.

They are the two most recent champions not just of Super League but the world, having beaten NRL opposition in the World Club Challenge. This final marks a moment in time for one of them to solidify a position as one of the modern era’s great teams. For once, it is Wigan who are arguably the underdogs.

Wigan Warriors have reached the men’s and women’s finals – and the schools final is between two teams from the town

By No Helmets Required

When Wigan Warriors selected two players to represent them at a Wembley photoshoot before the Challenge Cup finals on Saturday, they could not have chosen more different characters.

Liam Farrell, the men’s captain, is a veteran who has played for Wigan in five Challenge Cup finals, winning four. Leading his team out at Wembley to face treble winners Hull KR will be a big deal but he has been there before. Representing the women before their final against St Helens was a student who works part-time in the coach’s cafe. By the time Jenna Foubister had started primary school, Farrell had played 100 senior games.