2015 Challenge Cup

2015 Ladbrokes Challenge Cup

Duration	9 Rounds
Number of teams	78
Highest attendance	80,140 Leeds v Hull Kingston Rovers (Final)
Lowest attendance	87 Gloucestershire v Skirlaugh (3rd round)
Broadcast partners	BBC Sport Sky Sports
Winners	Leeds Rhinos
Runners-up	Hull Kingston Rovers
Lance Todd Trophy	Tom Briscoe
← 2014 2016 →

The 2015 Challenge Cup, (also known as the Ladbrokes Challenge Cup^[1] for sponsorship reasons) was the 114th staging of the rugby league tournament for teams in the Super League, the British National Leagues and a number of invited amateur clubs.

The defending champions Leeds Rhinos^[2] retained the trophy beating Hull Kingston Rovers 50–0 at Wembley Stadium on 29 August 2015.^[3]

The draw for the first round of the 2015 Challenge Cup was held on 8 January 2015 at Wembley Stadium and featured 40 amateur teams from around the United Kingdom including two student teams, all three armed services and the police. Home teams were drawn by Martin Offiah and the away teams drawn by Brian Noble.

Fixtures for the first round were mostly played over the weekend of the 31 January – 1 February 2015.^[4] Three fixtures were postponed until the following weekend due to bad weather forcing the postponement on the original date.

The draw for the second round was made on Monday 2 February at the Oulton Raiders club. The draw was made by two players who played in the 2014 final. Home teams were drawn by players Ryan Hall of Leeds Rhinos and away teams by Oliver Holmes of Castleford Tigers.^[6]

Following the conclusion of the first round ties; two clubs, Rochdale Mayfield and Hull Dockers, were reported to the Rugby Football League's Operational Rules Tribunal for each fielding an ineligible player. The Tribunal found both clubs guilty of the offence and disqualified them from the competition. The teams they defeated in the first round, Great Britain Police and Leigh Miners Rangers, were reinstated into the cup and played in the second round.^[7]

The draw for the third round was made on 17 February 2015 at Heritage Quay, University of Huddersfield. Round three saw the 14 Kingstone Press League 1 professional teams joining the competition to create a pool of 24 teams for the draw. The draw was made by previous Lance Todd Trophy winners Alex Murphy and Mal Reilly. Ties were played over the weekend of 7/8 March 2015.

Home	Score	Away	Match Information
			Date and Time	Venue	Referee	Attendance
Elland ARLFC	14 – 26	Featherstone Lions	7 March 2015, 14:00	Greetland Community Centre	S Mikalauskas	350
Wath Brow Hornets ARLFC	4 – 26	Newcastle Thunder	7 March 2015, 14:00	The Clubhouse	W Turley	400
Oulton Raiders	8 – 34	Normanton Knights	7 March 2015, 14:00	Oulton Community Sports Club	J McMullen	1,200
Leigh Miners Rangers	32 – 28	West Hull	7 March 2015, 14:30	Leigh Miners Welfare S&S Club	J Smith	350
London Skolars	4 – 86	Swinton Lions	7 March 2015, 15:00	New River Stadium	A Gill	165
Kells	12 – 29	Rochdale Hornets	7 March 2015, 17:00	Recreation Ground (Whitehaven)	T Grant	587
Barrow Raiders	36 – 22	Keighley Cougars	8 March 2015, 14:00	Craven Park	G Hewer	929
South Wales Scorpions	4 – 20	York City Knights	8 March 2015, 14:00	Parc Dyffryn Pennar, Mountain Ash	C Campbell	247
North Wales Crusaders	60 – 12	Widnes West Bank	8 March 2015, 14:30	Glyndŵr University Racecourse Stadium	D Merrick	523
Hemel Stags	10 – 22	Oxford Rugby League	8 March 2015, 14:30	Pennine Way	A Sweet	125
Oldham R.L.F.C.	46 – 6	Coventry Bears	8 March 2015, 15:00	Whitebank Stadium	T Crashley	256
Gloucestershire All Golds	66 – 4	Skirlaugh	8 March 2015, 14:30	Prince of Wales Stadium	J Roberts	87
Source:[9][10]

The draw for the fourth round was made on 10 March 2015 at the Provident Stadium, home of the Bradford Bulls. The draw was made by Leeds Rhinos' Jamie Peacock and Hull FC's Leon Pryce. The 12 winners of the third round ties were joined by the 12 Kingstone Press Championship teams. Ties were played over the weekend of 21/22 March 2015.

Home	Score	Away	Match Information
			Date and Time	Venue	Referee	Attendance
Featherstone Lions	8 – 58	York City Knights	20 March 2015, 20:00	Big Fellas Stadium	S Mikalauskas	1,200
Leigh Centurions	64 – 12	London Broncos	20 March 2015, 20:00	Leigh Sports Village	M Woodhead	2,448
Normanton Knights	6 – 78	Batley Bulldogs	21 March 2015, 14:00	Belle Vue	A Gill	851
Leigh Miners Rangers	32 – 6	Oxford Rugby League	21 March 2015, 14:30	Leigh Sports Village	C Campbell	787
Whitehaven	12 – 36	Featherstone Rovers	21 March 2015, 17:30	Recreation Ground	C Kendall	525
Barrow Raiders	16 – 56	Halifax	22 March 2015, 14:00	Craven Park	T Crashley	956
North Wales Crusaders	40 – 12	Doncaster	22 March 2015, 14:30	Glyndŵr University Racecourse Stadium	W Turley	416
Dewsbury Rams	28 – 18	Newcastle Thunder	22 March 2015, 15:00	Tetley's Stadium	D Merrick	703
Bradford Bulls	74 – 6	Workington Town	22 March 2015, 15:00	Provident Stadium	C Leatherbarrow	2,412
Swinton Lions	30 – 12	Rochdale Hornets	22 March 2015, 15:00	Park Lane, Sedgley Park	J Bloem	300
Sheffield Eagles	44 – 20	Oldham R.L.F.C.	22 March 2015, 15:00	Keepmoat Stadium	A Sweet	484
Gloucestershire All Golds	10 – 28	Hunslet Hawks	22 March 2015, 15:00	Prince of Wales Stadium	J Roberts	137
Source:[11][12]

The draw for the fifth round was made on Tuesday 24 March 2015 in Hull. The four clubs who finished the 2014 Super League season in 9th to 12th places; Hull Kingston Rovers, Salford Red Devils, Hull F.C. and Wakefield Trinity Wildcats respectively; joined the 12 winners from the fourth round in the draw. The draw was made by ex-players Johnny Whiteley (home teams) and Phil Lowe (away teams). Ties were played over the weekend 17–19 April.

Home	Score	Away	Match Information
			Date and Time	Venue	Referee	Attendance
Wakefield Trinity Wildcats	44 – 16	Halifax	17 April 2015, 19:30 BST	Belle Vue	J Cobb	2,062
Leigh Centurions	22 – 18	Salford Red Devils	18 April 2015, 14:35 BST	Leigh Sports Village	P Bentham	6,358
Leigh Miners Rangers	14 – 44	York City Knights	19 April 2015, 14:00 BST	Leigh Sports Village	G Hewer	1,191
North Wales Crusaders	12 – 38	Featherstone Rovers	19 April 2015, 14:30 BST	Glyndwr University Racecourse Stadium	D Merrick	617
Hunslet Hawks	16 – 31	Dewsbury Rams	19 April 2015, 15:00 BST	South Leeds Stadium	C Leatherbarrow	536
Bradford Bulls	30 – 50	Hull Kingston Rovers	19 April 2015, 15:00 BST	Provident Stadium	M Thomason	4,538
Sheffield Eagles	12 – 34	Hull F.C.	19 April 2015, 15:00 BST	Bramall Lane	G Stokes	1,620
Batley Bulldogs	46 – 14	Swinton Lions	19 April 2015, 15:00 BST	Fox's Biscuits Stadium	C Kendall	443
Source:[13][14]

The draw for the sixth round took place live on Sportsday on the BBC News channel on 20 April. The eight winners from this weekend's fifth round ties joined with the top eight First Utility Super League teams from 2014 in the draw to produce eight ties that will be played over the weekend of May 16–17. Home teams were drawn by Shaun Edwards and the away teams by Nathan McAvoy.

Home	Score	Away	Match Information
			Date and Time	Venue	Referee	Attendance
Dewsbury Rams	10 – 52	Warrington Wolves	15 May 2015, 20:00 BST	Tetley's Stadium	M Thomason	1,771
St. Helens	46 – 6	York City Knights	15 May 2015, 20:00 BST	Langtree Park	C Leatherbarrow	3,241
Wigan Warriors	12 – 16	Hull Kingston Rovers	15 May 2015, 20:05 BST	Leigh Sports Village	R Silverwood	4,677
Leeds Rhinos	48 – 16	Huddersfield Giants	16 May 2015, 14:30 BST	Headingley Carnegie Stadium	P Bentham[a]	8,133
Hull F.C.	40 – 14	Castleford Tigers	16 May 2015, 15:00 BST	KC Stadium	J Child	6,750
Wakefield Trinity Wildcats	30 – 36	Leigh Centurions	17 May 2015, 14:15 BST	Belle Vue	B Thaler	3,859
Widnes Vikings	26 – 22	Batley Bulldogs	17 May 2015, 15:30 BST	Select Security Stadium	J Cobb	3,866
Catalans Dragons	37 – 34	Featherstone Rovers	17 May 2015, 18:00 BST	Stade Gilbert Brutus	R Hicks	1,300
Source:[9][15]

The draw for the quarter-finals was made live on BBC Two on 17 May after the Wakefield Trinity Wildcats v Leigh Centurions game. The four ties that will be played over 25–28 June. The draw was conducted by former players Neil Fox (Wakefield Trinity) and Tony Barrow (Leigh). Barrow drew the home teams and Fox, the away teams.

Home	Score	Away	Match Information
			Date and Time	Venue	Referee	Attendance
Hull Kingston Rovers	32 – 26	Catalans Dragons	25 June 2015, 20:00 BST	KC Lightstream Stadium	P Bentham	6,073
Hull F.C.	6 – 24	Leeds Rhinos	26 June 2015, 20:00 BST	KC Stadium	J Child	9,261
Warrington Wolves	34 – 24	Leigh Centurions	27 June 2015, 15:00 BST	Halliwell Jones Stadium	R Silverwood	10,119
St. Helens	36 – 20	Widnes Vikings	28 June 2015, 16:00 BST	Langtree Park	R Hicks	8,806
Source:[16][17]

The draw for the semi-finals was made live on BBC Two on 28 June after the St. Helens v Widnes Vikings game. The two ties were played on 31 July and 1 August. The draw was conducted by former Great Britain and St Helens player Paul Sculthorpe and former footballer turned television presenter Chris Kamara.

Home	Score	Away	Match Information
			Date and Time	Venue	Referee	Attendance
Leeds Rhinos	24 – 14	St. Helens	31 July 2015, 20:00 BST	Halliwell Jones Stadium	B Thaler	11,107
Hull Kingston Rovers	26 – 18	Warrington Wolves	1 August 2015, 12:45 BST	Headingley Carnegie Stadium	R Silverwood	13,049
Source:[18]

Home	Score	Away	Match Information
			Date and Time	Venue	Referee	Attendance
Hull Kingston Rovers	0 – 50	Leeds Rhinos	29 August 2015, 15:15 BST	Wembley Stadium	B Thaler	80,140
Source:[3]

The final was played at Wembley Stadium on 29 August 2015, between the 1980 winners Hull Kingston Rovers, in their first final since 1986, and the 12-time winners and holders, the Leeds Rhinos.

Leeds' victory set a new record for the largest winning margin.^[3] The Lance Todd Trophy winner was the Leeds' Tom Briscoe who scored five tries - the first player to achieve this feat at Wembley.^[3]

Teams:

Hull Kingston Rovers: Kieran Dixon, Josh Mantellato, Kris Welham, Liam Salter, Ken Sio, Maurice Blair, Albert Kelly, Adam Walker, Shaun Lunt, Tony Puletua, Kevin Larroyer, Graeme Horne, Tyrone McCarthy (captain). Substitutes: John Boudebza, James Donaldson, Dane Tilse, Mitch Allgood.

Leeds Rhinos: Zak Hardaker, Tom Briscoe, Kallum Watkins, Joel Moon, Ryan Hall, Kevin Sinfield (captain), Danny McGuire, Mitch Garbutt, Adam Cuthbertson, Jamie Peacock, Stevie Ward, Carl Ablett, Brett Delaney. Substitutes: Rob Burrow, Kylie Leuluai, Mitch Achurch, Brad Singleton.
Tries: Delaney (1), McGuire (1), Briscoe (5), Singleton (1), Burrow (1). Goals: Sinfield (7/9)^[19]

The tournament was jointly televised by the BBC and Sky Sports on the fourth of their five-year contracts. This time, the BBC televised two sixth round match while Sky Sports televised a fifth round match and a sixth round match. Both channels televised two quarter-final matches with the BBC televising the semi-finals and the final.

• Except Northern Ireland.

Sky Sports televised live the fifth round match between Leigh Centurions and Salford Red Devils on 18 April, the sixth round between Wigan Warriors and Hull Kingston Rovers on 15 May and the quarter-final matches between Hull Kingston Rovers and Catalans Dragons on 25 June and Hull F.C. versus Leeds Rhinos on 26 June.

• Challenge Cup official website