Category: Rugby League

• Quarter-final: Warrington 20-12 St Helens
• Wolves to play Leigh Leopards in semi-final

Warrington Wolves edged a pulsating Challenge Cup quarter-final with St Helens to set up a semi-final showdown with Leigh Leopards next month.

Two of the cup’s most successful clubs met on a sun-drenched afternoon in Warrington, in a contest that was level at half-time and which ebbed and flowed for most of the match. But in the end, it was Sam Burgess’s side who came through a thrilling tie with the England captain, George Williams, scoring the decisive try with 10 minutes remaining.

• Warrington owner Simon Moran instrumental in decision
• Bramley-Moore Dock, Wembley and Headingley to host

The music promoter backing this summer’s Oasis reunion will be a major figure behind rugby league’s Ashes returning to England for the first time since 2003. The venues and dates for the three-Test series were confirmed on Wednesday.

England will face Australia, the world champions, in Tests at ­Wembley, Everton’s new home at Bramley-Moore Dock and Leeds ­Rhinos’ Headingley on consecutive Saturdays: 25 October, 1 November and 8 November. All three games will kick-off at 2.30 and be live on the BBC.

Clubs ousting the RFL chair to demand a third review in eight years is a retrograde step that takes yet more focus off the actual rugby

Remember Super League’s historic trip to Las Vegas? The hype, the excitement and the feeling that after years of trying, perhaps British rugby league had finally broken a glass ceiling and could be set for a bright future? That all unfolded only three weeks ago, but given what has happened since, it feels like a lot longer.

Few sports do off-field issues quite like rugby league, but even by its own ridiculous standards, these are unique times. It is perhaps pertinent to start with Salford Red Devils, given their very existence has appeared under threat of late. They have twice been placed in special measures by the Rugby Football League over the winter, the latest coming when their new owners failed to pay their players on time in February, days after a takeover of the club that had fuelled optimism.

Both sides are determined to reach Super League next season but their match on Saturday might not matter at all

By Gavin Willacy for No Helmets Required

The favourites for the Championship title meet in the south of France on Saturday evening. It would be a surprise if the match between Toulouse Olympique and Bradford Bulls is not repeated at the end of the campaign in the Championship Grand Final. But what the 13 teams in the second tier are playing for this season remains unclear – and will still be unknown when autumn leaves begin to fall.

Toulouse and Bradford are the only two clubs still spending anywhere near the seven-figures usually required to reach the Grand Final. The removal of automatic promotion and relegation last year did not prevent the Championship winners, Wakefield, from replacing Super League’s bottom team, London Broncos, in the top flight this season. But that scenario is unlikely to be repeated this October, when the 12 clubs in Super League will again be decided solely by the IMG grading system. Winning the Championship may be about glory rather than promotion.

• RFL arranges crisis meeting with owners on Wednesday
• Club limited to £1.2m worth of players for next match

The Rugby Football League has reimposed salary cap restrictions on Salford Red Devils and summoned their new owners to a meeting on Wednesday to explain why players and staff still have not been paid February wages.

Salford faced significant financial difficulty over the winter that led to the club securing a £500,000 advance on their central funding to survive the off-season. That plight had looked as though it would be alleviated when the club was taken over by a group led by the Swiss investment banker Dario Berta.

Warrington Wolves were handily beaten in Nevada but the magic of Matt Peet’s Warriors side lit up Sin City

Today, Las Vegas: tomorrow, the world? Only in the weeks, months and years to come will we know the lasting impact of Super League’s first foray into the United States but, while so many things felt new, one thing was eerily familiar: the brilliance of Wigan Warriors.

Matt Peet’s side have made it their habit to bring out their best on the biggest stages and in Nevada, with more eyes on them than ever, they certainly did not wilt as they beat Warrington 48-24, from 42-0 up.

• Professional clubs want to oust RFL chair Simon Johnson
• Governing body says any such move would breach rules

The Rugby Football League has warned clubs that an attempt to sideline the sport’s ­governing body and replace its chair could have ­“catastrophic financial ­consequences” after taking legal advice to stave off a planned revolt.

Rugby league’s professional clubs will assemble in March to ­consider a proposal put forward by the Super League club Leigh ­Leopards and Championship side Batley ­Bulldogs, which calls for the immediate removal of Simon Johnson, after a purported loss of confidence in the direction of the governing body.